"1. I will set
forth the history of Buddha's coming to the Island, of the arrival
of the relic and of the Bo (branch), of the doctrine of the teachers
who made the recensions (of Dhamma and Vinaya), of the propagation
of the Faith in the Island, of the arrival of the chief of men
(Vijaya); listen. 2. Listen attentively to (the history proclaimed
by) me, which inspires joy and delight, which causes serenity and
gladdens the mind, which comprises many various forms. 3. With
elated minds, satisfied, delighted and joyful, attentively receive
the faultless, auspicious discourse. 4. Listen all, giving your
minds (to the subject); I will proclaim a history, handed down from
generation to generation, highly praised, adorned in many ways,
joined together in this (work), just as flowers of various kinds
(form a garland). 5. Attend to this incomparable praise of the
Island (Ceylon), which dwells upon the most excellent successions
(of teachers and kings), which is new and unrivalled and well
narrated, which has been handed down by Saints, which is praised by
all good men and revered by the holy ones."

"Sumedha. The Bodhisatta in the time
of Dīpankara Buddha. He was a very rich brahmin of Amaravatī, and,
having left the world, became an ascetic of great power in the
Himālaya. While on a visit to Rammma-nagara, he saw people
decorating the road for Dīpankara Buddha, and undertook to do one
portion of the road himself. The Buddha arrived before his work was
finished, and Sumedha lay down on a rut for the Buddha to walk over
him. He resolved that he, too, would become a Buddha, and Dīpankara,
looking into the future, saw that his wish would come true. This was
the beginning of Gotama Buddha's qualification for Enlightenment.
J.i.2ff.; DhA.i.68; Bu.ii.5ff.; SNA.i.49; in Chinese Records he is
called Megha. The Dvy. (p.247) calls him Sumati."

"Legend has it that Tapussa and Bhallika
brought the original sacred hairs of Buddha from India across the
ocean. On their way to Myanmar, the two brothers were relieved of 2
hairs by the King of Ajetta, and 2 more were robbed by the King of
Nagas, who transformed himself into the likness of a human being and
boarded the ship at night.

On arrival in Myanmar, a great festival was
celebrated in honour of the sacred hairs for several days. Sakka,
Lord of the Heaven, came down to earth and assisted in the selection
of the site; but he had to invoke the aid of the 4 spirits: Sule,
Amyitha, Yawhani, and Dakkhina.

Relices of the 3 proceeding Buddhas were excavated under their
direction in one spot, and were buried there again along with the
sacred hairs brought by the 2 brothers. Before placing them in the
vault dug on the hill, King Okkalapa opened the casket containing
the hairs of instead of 4, 8 hairs flew up to the height of seven
palm trees emitting rays of variegated hues with such a dazzle that
the dumb could speak, the deaf could hear, and the lame could walk,
and a rain of jewels fell knee-deep. A golden stone slab was placed
on top of the vault by Sakka and on it was erected a golden pagoda
enclosed within silver, tin, copper, lead, marble, and iron brick
pagodas up to a height of 66 feet. "

A generic name, an appellative - but not a proper name - given
to one who has attained Enlightenment (na mātarā katam, na pitarā
katam – vimokkhantikam etam buddhānam bhagavantānam bodhiyā mūle ...
paññatti, MNid.458; Ps.i.174) a man superior to all other beings,
human and divine, by his knowledge of the Truth (Dhamma).

The texts mention two kinds of Buddha: viz.,

Pacceka Buddhas - i.e., Buddhas who also
attain to complete Enlightenment but do not preach the way of
deliverance to the world; and

Sammāsambuddhas, who are omniscient and
are teachers of Nibbāna (Satthāro).

The Commentaries, however (e.g., SA.i.20;
AA.i.65) make mention of four classes of Buddha:

Sabaññu-Buddhā

Pacceka Buddhā

Catusacca Buddhā

Suta Buddhā

All arahants (khīnāsavā) are called Catusacca
Buddhā and all learned men Bahussuta Buddhā. A Pacceka Buddha
practises the ten perfections (pāramitā) for two asankheyyas and one
hundred thousand kappas, a Sabbañu Buddha practises it for one
hundred thousand kappas and four or eight or sixteen asankheyyas, as
the case may be (see below).

Seven Sabbaññu Buddhas are mentioned in the
earlier books; these are

Vīpassī

Sikhī

Vessabhū

Kakusandha

Konāgamana

Kassapa

Gotama

E.g., D.ii.5f.; S.ii.5f.; cp. Thag.491;
J.ii.147; they are also mentioned at Vin.ii.110, in an old formula
against snake bites. Beal (Catena, p. 159) says these are given in
the Chinese Pātimokkha. They are also found in the Sayambhū Purāna
(Mitra, Skt. Buddhist Lit. of Nepal, p. 249).

This number is increased in the later books.
The Buddhavamsa contains detailed particulars of twenty five
Buddhas, including the last, Gotama, the first twenty four being
those who prophesied Gotama's appearance in the world. They are the
predecessors of Vipassī, etc., and are the following:

The same poem, in its twenty seventh chapter,
mentions three other Buddhas - Tanhankara, Medhankara and
Saranankara - who appeared in the world before Dīpankara.

The Lalitavistara has a list of fifty four
Buddhas and the Mahāvastu of more than a hundred. The Cakkavatti
Sīhanāda Sutta (D.iii.75ff ) gives particulars of Metteyya Buddha
who will be born in the world during the present kappa. The
Anāgatavamsa gives a detailed account of him. Some MSS. of that poem
(J.P.T.S. 1886, p. 37) mention the names of ten future Buddhas, all
of whom met Gotama who prophesied about them. These are Metteyya,
Uttama, Rāma, Pasenadi Kosala, Abhibhū, Dīghasonī, Sankacca, Subha,
Todeyya, Nālāgiripalaleyya (sic).

The Mahāpadāna Sutta (D.ii.5f ) which
mentions the seven Buddhas gives particulars of each under eleven
heads (paricchedā) -

the kappa in which he is born,

his social rank (jāti),

his family (gotta),

length of life at that epoch (āyu),

the tree under which he attains
Enlightenment (bodhi),

the names of his two chief disciples
(sāvakayuga),

the numbers present at the assemblies of
arahants held by him (sāvakasannipāta),

the name of his personal attendant
(upatthākabhikkhu),

the names of his father and mother and
of his birthplace.

The Commentary (DA.ii.422ff) adds to these
other particulars -

the names of his son and his wife before
his Renunciation,

the conveyance (yāna) in which he leaves
the world,

the monastery in which his Gandhakuti
was placed,

the amount of money paid for its
purchase,

the site of the monastery, and the name
of his chief lay patron.

In the case of Gotama, the further fact is
stated that on the day of his birth there appeared also in the world
Rāhulamātā, Ānanda, Kanthaka, Nidhikumbhi (Treasure Trove), the
Mahābodhi and Kāludāyī.

Gotama was conceived under the asterism
(nakkhatta) of Uttarāsālha, under which asterism he also made his
Renunciation (Da.ii425), preached his first sermon and performed the
Twin Miracle. Under the asterism of Visākha he was born, attained
Enlightenment and died; under that of Māgha he held his first
assembly of arahants and decided to die; under Assayuja he descended
from Tāvatimsa.

The Buddhavamsa Commentary says (BuA.2f) that
in the Buddhavamsa particulars of each Buddha are given under twenty
two heads, the additional heads being the details of the first
sermon, the numbers of those attaining realization of truth
(abhisamaya) at each assembly, the names of the two chief women
disciples, the aura of the Buddha's body (ramsi), the height of his
body, the name of the Bodhisatta (who was to become Gotama Buddha),
the prophecy concerning him, his exertions (padhāna) and the details
of each Buddha's death. The Commentary also says that mention must
be made of the time each Buddha lived as a householder, the names of
the palaces he occupied, the number of his dancing women, the names
of his chief wife, and his son, his conveyance, his renunciation,
his practice of austerities, his patrons and his monastery.

There are eight particulars in which the
Buddhas differ from each other (atthavemattāni). These are length of
life in the epoch in which each is born, the height of his body, his
social rank (some are born as khattiyas, others as brahmins), the
length of his austerities, the aura of his body (thus, in the case
of Mangala, his aura spread throughout the ten thousand world
systems, while that of Gotama extended only one fathom; - but when
he wishes, a Buddha can spread his aura at will, BuA.106); the
conveyance in which he makes his renunciation, the tree under which
he attains Enlightenment, and the size of the seat (pallanka) under
the Bodhi tree.

Only the first five are mentioned in
DA.ii.424; also at BuA.105; all eight are given at BuA.246f., which
also gives details under each of the eight heads, regarding all the
twenty five Buddhas.

In the case of all Buddhas, there are four
fixed spots (avijahitatthānāni). These are:

the site of the seat under the Bodhi
tree (bodhipallanka),

the Deer Park at Isipatana where the
first sermon is preached,

the spot where the Buddha first steps on
the ground at Sankassa on his descent from Tusita (Tāvatimsa?)

the spots marked by the four posts of
the bed in the Buddha's Gandhakuti in Jetavana.

The monastery may vary in size; the site of
the city in which it stands may also vary, but not the site of the
bed. Sometimes it is to the east of the vihāra, sometimes to the
north (DA.ii.424; BuA.247).

Thirty facts are mentioned as being true of
all Buddhas (samatimsavidhā dhammatā).

In his last life every Bodhisatta is
conscious at the moment of his conception;

in his mother's womb he remains cross
legged with his face turned outwards;

his mother gives birth to him in a
standing posture;

the birth takes place in a forest grove
(araññe);

immediately after birth he takes seven
steps to the north and roars the "lion's roar";

he makes his renunciation after seeing
the four omens and after a son is born to him;

he has to practise austerities for at
least seven days after donning the yellow robe;

he has a meal of milk rice on the day of
his Enlightenment;

he attains to omniscience seated on a
carpet of grass;

he practises concentration in breathing;

he defeats Māra's forces;

he attains to supreme perfection in all
knowledge and virtue at the foot of the Bodhi tree;

Mahā Brahmā requests him to preach the
Dhamma;

he preaches his first sermon in the Deer
Park at Isipatana;

he recites the Pātimokkha to the
fourfold assembly on the full moon day of Māgha;

he resides chiefly in Jetavana, he
performs the Twin Miracle in Sāvatthi;

he preaches the Abhidhamma in Tāvatimsa;

he descends from there at the gate of
Sankassa;

he constantly lives in the bliss of
phalasamāpatti;

he investigates the possibility of
converting others during two jhānas;

he lays down the precepts only when
occasion arises for them;

he relates Jātakas when suitable
occasions occur;

he recites the Buddhavamsa in the
assembly of his kinsmen;

he always greets courteously monks who
visit him;

he never leaves the place where he has
spent the rainy season without bidding farewell to his hosts;

each day he has prescribed duties before
and after his meal and during the three watches of the night;

he eats a meal containing flesh
(mamsarajabhojana) immediately before his death;

and just before his death he enters into
the twenty four crores and one hundred thousand samāpattī.

There are also mentioned four dangers from
which all Buddhas are immune:

no misfortune can befall the four
requisites intended for a Buddha;

no one can encompass his death;

no injury can befall any of his thirty
two Mahāpurisalakkhanā or eighty anubyañjanā;

nothing can obstruct his aura (BuA.248).

A Buddha is born only in this Cakkavāla out
of the ten thousand Cakkavālas which constitute the jātikkhetta
(AA.i.251; DA.iii.897). There can appear only one Buddha in the
world at a time (D.ii.225; D.iii.114; the reasons for this are given
in detail in Mil. 236, and quoted in DA.iii.900f). No Buddha can
arise until the sāsana of the previous Buddha has completely
disappeared from the world. This happens only with the
dhātuparinibbāna (see below). When a Bodhisatta takes conception in
his mother's womb in his last life, after leaving Tusita, there is
manifested throughout the world a wonderful radiance, and the ten
thousand world systems tremble.

Similar earthquakes appear when he is born,
when he attains Enlightenment, when he preaches the first sermon,
when he decides to die, when he finally does so (D.ii.108f.; cp.
DA.iii.897).

The Mahāpādāna Sutta (D.ii.12-15) and the
Acchariya-bbhuta-dhamma Sutta (M.iii.119-124) contain accounts of
other miracles, which attend the conception and birth of a Buddha.
Later books (e.g., J.i.) have greatly enlarged these accounts. They
describe how the Bodhisatta, having practised the thirty Pāramī, and
made the five great gifts (pañcamahāpariccāgā), and thus reached the
pinnacle of the threefold cariyā - ñātattha-cariyā,
lokattha-cariyā and buddhi-cariyā - gives the seven mahādānā,
as in the case of Vessantara, making the earth tremble seven times,
and is born after death in Tusita.

The Bodhisatta, who later became Vipassī
Buddha, remained in Tusita during the whole permissible period -
fifty seven crores and sixty seven thousand years. But most
Bodhisattas leave Tusita before completing the full span of life
there. Five signs appear to warn the devaputta that his end is near
(see Deva); the gods of the ten thousand worlds gather round him,
beseeching him to be born on earth that he may become the Buddha.
The Bodhisatta thereupon makes the five investigations
(pañcamahāvilokanāni).

Sometimes only one Buddha is born in a kappa,
such a kappa being called Sārakappa; sometimes two, Mandakappa;
sometimes three, Varakappa; sometimes four, Sāramandakappa; rarely
five, Bhaddakappa (BuA.158f). No Buddha is born in the early period
of a kappa, when men live longer than one hundred thousand years and
are thus not able to recognize the nature of old age and death, and
therefore not able to benefit by his preaching. When the life of man
is too short, there is no time for exhortation and men are full of
kilesa. The suitable age for a Buddha is, therefore, when men live
not less than one hundred years and not more than ten thousand. The
Bodhisatta must first consider the continent and the country of
birth. Buddhas are born only in Jambudīpa, and there, too, only in
the Majjhimadesa. He must then consider the family; Buddhas are born
only in brahmin or khattiya families, whichever is more esteemed
during that particular age. Then he must think of the mother: she
must be wise and virtuous; and her life must be destined to end
seven days after the Buddha's birth.

Having made these decisions, the Bodhisatta
goes to Nandanavana in Tusita, and while wandering about there
"falls away" from Tusita and takes conception. He is aware of his
death but unaware of his cuti-citta or dying thought. The
Commentators seem to have differed as to whether there is awareness
of conception. When the Bodhisatta is conceived, his mother has no
further wish for indulgence in sexual pleasure. For seven days
previously she observes the uposatha vows, but there is no mention
of a virgin birth; the birth might be called parthenogenetic (see
Mil.123).

On the day of the actual conception, the
mother, having bathed in scented water after the celebration of the
Asālha festival, and having eaten choice food, takes upon herself
the uposatha vows and retires to the adorned state bedchamber. As
she sleeps, she dreams that the Four Regent Gods raise her with her
bed, and, having taken her to the Himālaya, bathe her in Lake
Anotatta, robe her in divine clothes, anoint her with perfumes and
deck her with heavenly flowers (according to the Nidānakathā,
J.i.50, it is their queens who do these things, re the Bodhisatta
assuming the form of an elephant, see Dial.ii.116n). Not far away is
a silver mountain and on it a golden mansion. There they lay her
with her head to the east. The Bodhisatta, assuming the form of a
white elephant, enters her room, and after circling right wise three
times round her bed, smites her right side with his trunk and enters
her womb. She awakes and tells her husband of her dream. Soothsayers
are consulted, and they prophesy the birth of a Cakka-vatti or of a
Buddha.

The two Suttas mentioned above speak of the
circumstances obtaining during the time spent by the child in his
mother's womb. It is said (DA.ii.437) that the Bodhisatta is born
when his mother is in the last third of her middle age. This is in
order that the birth may be easy for both mother and child. Various
miracles attend the birth of the Bodhisatta. The Commentaries
expound, at great length, the accounts of these miracles given in
the Suttas. Immediately after birth the Bodhisatta stands firmly on
his feet, and having taken seven strides to the north, while a white
canopy, is held over his head, looks round and utters in fearless
voice the lion's roar: "Aggo 'ham asmi lokassa, jettho 'ham asmi
lokassa, settho 'ham asmi lokassa, ayam antimā jāti, natthi dāni
punabbhavo” (D.ii.15).

To the later Buddhists, not only these acts
of the Bodhisatta, but every item of the miracles accompanying his
birth, have their symbolical meaning. See, e.g., DA.ii.439; thus,
standing on the earth means the attaining of the four iddhi-pādas;
facing north implies the spiritual conquest of multitudes; the seven
strides are the seven bojjhangas; the canopy is the umbrella of
emancipation; looking round means unveiled knowledge; fearlessness
denotes the irrevocable turning of the Wheel of the Law; the mention
of the last birth, the arahantship he will attain in this life, etc.

There seems to have been a difference of
opinion among the Elders of the Sangha as to what happened when the
Bodhisatta took his seven strides northwards. Did he walk on the
earth or travel through the air? Did people see him go? Was he
clothed? Did he look an infant or an adult? Tipitaka Culābhaya,
preaching on the first floor of the Lohapāsāda, settled the question
by suggesting a compromise: the Bodhisatta walked on earth, but the
onlookers felt he was travelling through the air; he was naked, but
the onlookers felt he was gaily adorned; he was an infant, but
looked sixteen years old; and after his roar he reverted to infancy!
(DA.ii.442)

After birth, the Bodhisatta is presented to
the soothsayers for their prognostications and they reassert that
two courses alone are open to him either to be a
Cakka-vatti or a Buddha. They also discover on his body the thirty
two marks of the Great Man (Mahāpurisa) (These are given at D.ii.17
19; also M.ii.136f). The Bodhisatta has also the eighty secondary
signs (asīti anubyañjana) such as copper coloured nails glossy and
prominent, sinews which are hidden and without knots, etc. (The list
is found in Lal. 121 [106]). The Brahmāyu Sutta (for details see
M.ii.137f) gives other particulars about Gotama, which are evidently
characteristic of all Buddhas. Thus, in walking he always starts
with the right foot, his steps are neither too long nor too short,
only his lower limbs move; when he gazes on anything, he turns right
round to do so (nāgavilokana). When entering a house he never bends
his body (Cp. DhA.ii.136); when sitting down, accepting water to
wash his bowl, eating, washing his hands after eating, or returning
thanks, he sits with the greatest propriety, dignity and
thoroughness. When preaching, he neither flatters nor denounces his
hearers but merely instructs them, rousing, enlightening and
heartening them (M.ii.139). His voice possesses eight qualities: it
is frank, clear, melodious, pleasant, full, carrying, deep and
resonant; it does not travel beyond his audience (for details
concerning his voice see DA.ii.452f.; and MA.ii.771f). A passage in
the Anguttara (A.iv.308) says that a Buddha preaches in the eight
assemblies - of nobles, brahmins, householders, recluses,
devas of the Cātummahārājika world, and of Tāvatimsa, of Māras and
of Brahmās. In these assemblies he becomes one of them and their
language becomes his.

The typical career of a Buddha is illustrated
in the life of Gotama. He renounces the world only after the birth
of a son. This, the Commentary explains (DA.ii.422), is to prevent
him from being taken for other than a human being. He sees the four
omens before his Renunciation: an old man, a sick man, a dead man,
and a recluse. Some Buddhas see all four on the same day, others,
like Vipassī, at long intervals (DA.ii.457). On the night before the
Enlightenment, the Bodhisatta dreams five dreams (A.iii.240). After
the Enlightenment the Buddha does not preach till asked to do so by
Mahā Brahmā. This is on order that the world may pay greater
attention to the Buddha and his teaching (DA.ii.467). A Buddha
generally travels from the Bodhi tree to Isipatana for his first
sermon, through the air, but Gotama went on foot because he wished
to meet Upaka on the way (DA.ii.471).

The Buddha's day is divided into periods,
each of which has its distinct duties (DA.i.45f; SNA.i.131f, etc.).
He rises early, and having attended to his bodily functions, sits in
solitude till the time arrives for the alms round. He then puts on
his outer robe and goes for alms, sometimes alone, sometimes with a
large following of monks. When he wishes to go alone he keeps the
door of his cell shut, which sign is understood by the monks (Ibid.,
271). Occasionally he goes long distances for alms, travelling
through the air, and then only khīnāsavā are allowed to accompany
him (ThagA.i.65). Sometimes he goes in the ordinary way (pakatiyā),
sometimes accompanied by many miracles. After the meal he returns to
his cell; this is the pure bhattakicca.

Having washed his feet, he would emerge from
his cell, talk to the monks and admonish them. To those who ask for
subjects of meditation, he would give them according to their
temperament. He would then retire to his cell and, if he so desire,
sleep for a while. After that, he looks around the world with his
divine eye, seeking whom he may serve, and would then preach to
those who come to him for instruction. In the evening he would
bathe, and then, during the first watch, attend to monks seeking his
advice. The middle watch is spent with devas and others who visit
him to question him. The last watch is divided into three parts: the
first part is spent in walking about for exercise and meditation;
the second is devoted to sleep; and the third to contemplation,
during which those who are capable of benefiting by the Buddha's
teaching, through good deeds done by them in the past, come into his
vision. Only beings that are veneyyā (capable of benefiting by
instruction) and who possess upanissaya, appear before the Buddha's
divine eye (DA.ii.470).

The Buddha gives his visitors permission to
ask what they will. This is called Sabbaññupavārana, and only a
Buddha is capable of holding to this promise to answer any question
(SNA.i.229). Except during the rains, the Buddha spends his time in
wandering from place to place, gladdening men and inciting them to
lead the good life. This wandering is called cārikā and is of two
kinds - turita and aturita. The first is used for a long
journey accomplished by him in a very short time, for the benefit of
some particular person. Thus Gotama travelled three gāvutas to meet
Mahā Kassapa, thirty yojanas to see Alavaka and Angulimāla, forty
five yojanas to see Pukusāti, etc. In the case of aturita cārikā
progress is slow. The range of a Buddha's cārikā varies from year to
year. Sometimes he would tour the Mahāmandala of nine hundred
yojanas, sometimes the Majjhimamandala of nine hundred yojanas,
sometimes only the Antomandala of six hundred yojanas. A tour of the
Mahāmandala occupies nine months, that of the Majjhimamandala eight,
and that of the Antomandala from one to four months. Details of the
cārikā and the reasons for them are given at length in DA.i.240 3.
When the Buddha cannot go on a journey himself, he sends his chief
disciples (SNA.ii.474). The Buddha announces his intention of
undertaking a journey two weeks before he starts, so that the monks
may get ready (DhA.ii.167).

The Buddha is omniscient, not in the sense
that he knows everything, but that he could know anything should he
so desire (see MNid.178,179; see also MNidA.223; SNA.i.18.). His
ñāña is one of the four illimitables (neither can the Buddha's body
be measured for purposes of comparison with other bodies,
MA.ii.790). He converts people in one of three ways:

by exhibition of miraculous powers
(iddhipātihāriya),

by reading their thoughts
(ādesanāpātihāriya),

or teaching them what is beneficial to
them according to their character and temperament
(anusāsanīpātihāriya).

It is the last method, which the Buddha most
often uses (BuA.81) The Buddha's rivals say that he possesses the
power of fascination (āvattanīmāyā); but this is untrue, as
sometimes (e.g., in the case of the Kosambi monks) he cannot make
even his own disciples obey him. Some beings, however, can be
converted only by a Buddha. They are called buddha veneyyā
(SNA.i.331). Some are pleased by the Buddha's looks, others by his
voice and words, yet others by his austerities, such as the wearing
of simple robes, etc.; and finally, those whose standard of judgment
is goodness, reflect that he is without a peer (DhA.iii.113f.).

Though the Buddha's teaching is never really
lost on the listener, he sometimes preaches knowing that it will be
of no immediate benefit (see, e.g., Udumbarikasīhanāda Sutta,
D.iii.57). It is said that wherever a monk dwells during the
Buddha's time, in the vicinity of the Buddha, he would always have
ready a special seat for the Buddha because it is possible that the
Buddha would pay him a special visit (DA.i.48). Sometimes the Buddha
will send a ray of light from his Gandhakuti to encourage a monk
engaged in meditation and, appearing before him in this ray of
light, preach to him. Stanzas so preached are called obhāsagāthā
(SNA.i.16, 265).

Every Buddha founds an Order; the first
pātimokkhuddesagāthā of every Buddha is the same (DA.ii.479). The
attainment of arahantship is always the aim of the Buddha's
instruction (DA.iii.732). Beings can obtain the four abhiññā only
during the lifetime of a Buddha (AA.i.204). A Buddha has ten powers
(balāni) which consist of his perfect comprehension in ten fields of
knowledge,

A.v.32f.; M.i.69, etc. At S.ii.27f., ten
similar powers are given as consisting of his knowledge of the
Paticasamuppāda. The powers of a disciple are distinct from those of
a Buddha (Kvu.228); they are seven (see, e.g., D.iii.283) and
physical strength equal to that of one hundred thousand crores of
elephants (BuA.37). He alone can digest the food of the devas or
food which contains the ojā put into it by the devas. No one else
can eat with impunity the food which has been set apart for the
Buddha (SNA.i.154). Besides these excellences, a Buddha possesses
the four assurances (vesārajjāni, given at M.i.71f)), the eighteen
āvenikadhammā*, and the sixteen anuttariyas**.

*Described at Lal. 183, 343, Buddhaghosa
also gives (at DA.iii.994) a list of eighteen buddhadhammā, but
they are all concerned with the absence of duccarita in the case
of the Buddha.

**Given by Sāriputta in the Sampasādāniya
Sutta (D.iii.102ff.).

The remembrance of former births a Buddha
shares with six classes of purified beings, only in a higher degree.
This faculty is possessed in ascending scale by titthiyā,
pakatisāvakā, mahāsāvakā, aggasāvakā, pacceka buddhā and buddhā
(E.g.,Vsm.411).

Every Buddha holds a Mahāsamaya, and only a
Buddha is capable of preaching a series of suttas to suit the
different temperaments of the mighty assembly gathered there
(D.ii.255; DA.ii.682f).

A Buddha is not completely immune from
disease (e.g., Gotama). Every Buddha has the power of living for one
whole kappa," but no Buddha does so, his term of life being
shortened by reason of climate and the food he takes (DA.ii.413).

The Commentary explains (DA.ii.554f.) that
kappa here means āyukappa, the full span of a man's life during that
particular age. Some, like Mahāsīva Thera, maintained that if the
Buddha could live for ten months, overcoming the pains of death, he
could as well continue to live to the end of this Bhaddakappa. But a
Buddha does not do so because he wishes to die before his body is
overcome by the infirmities of old age.

No Buddha, however, dies till the sāsana is
firmly established (D.iii.122). There are three parinibbānā in
the case of a Buddha: kilesa parinibbāna, khandha parinibbāna and
dhātu parinibbāna. The first takes place under the Bodhi tree, the
second at the moment of the Buddha's death, the third long after
(DA.iii.899f.; for the history of Gotama's relics see Gotama). Some
Buddhas live longer than others; those that are dighāyuka have only
sammukhasāvakā (disciples who hear the Doctrine from the Buddha
himself), and at their death their relics are not scattered, only a
single thūpa being erected over them (SNA. 194, 195). Short lived
Buddhas hold the uposatha once a fortnight; others (e.g. Kassapa
Buddha) may have it once in six months; yet others (e.g. Vipassī)
only once in six years (ThagA.i.62).

After the Buddha's death, his Doctrine is
gradually forgotten. The first Pitaka to be lost is the Abhidhamma,
beginning with the Patthāna and ending with the Dhammasangani. Then,
the Anguttara Nikāya of the Sutta Pitaka, from the eleventh to the
first Nipāta; next the Samyutta Nikāya from the Cakkapeyyāla to the
Oghatarana; then the Majjhima, from the Indriyabhāvanā Sutta to the
Mūlapariyāya Sutta, and then the Dīgha, from the Dasuttara to the
Brahmajāla. Scattered gāthā like the Sabhiyapucchā, and the
ālavakapucchā, last much longer, but they cannot maintain the
sāsana. The last Pitaka to disappear is the Vinaya, the last portion
being the mātikā of the Ubhatovibhanga (VibhA.432).

When a Buddha dies, his body receives the
honours due to a monarch (these are detailed at D.ii.141f). It is
said that on the night on which a Buddha attains Enlightenment, and
on the night during which he dies, the colour of his skin becomes
exceedingly bright (D.ii.134). Here we have the beginning of a
legend which later grew into an account of an actual
"transfiguration" of the Buddha.

At all times, where a Buddha is present, no
other light can shine (SNA.ii.525).

No Buddha is born during the
samvattamānakappa, but only during the vivattamānakappa (SNA.i.51).
A Bodhisatta who excels in paññā can attain Buddhahood in four
asankheyyas; one who exels in saddhā, in eight, and one whose viriya
is the chief factor, in sixteen (SNA.i.47f). When once a being has
become a Bodhisatta there are eighteen conditions from which he is
immune (SNA.i.50). The Buddha is referred to under various epithets.
The Anguttara Nikāya gives one such list. There he is called Samana,
Brāhmana, Vedagū, Bhisaka, Nimmala, Vimala, Ñānī and Vimutta (C.iv.
340). Buddhaghosa gives seven others: Cakkkumā, Sabbabhūtanukampī,
Vihātaka, Mārasenappamaddī, Vusitavā, Vimutto and Angirasa
(DA.iii.962f).

The Buddha generally speaks of himself as
Tathāgata. This term is explained at great length in the
Commentaries - e.g., DA.i.59f. His followers usually address
him as Bhagavā, while others call him by his name (Gotama). In the
case of Gotama Buddha, we find him also addressed as Sakka (SN. vs.
345; perhaps the equivalent of Sākya), Brahma (SN. p.91;
SNA.ii.418), Mahāmuni (BuA.38) and Yakkha (M.i.386; also KS.i.262).
Countless other epithets occur in the books, especially in the later
ones. One very famous formula, used by Buddhists in their ritual,
contains nine epithets, the formula being: Bhagavā araham
sammāsambuddho, vijjācaranasampanno, sugato, lokavidū, anuttaro,
purisadammasārathi, satthā devamanussānam, Buddho Bhagavā (these
words are analysed and discussed in Vsm. 198 ff). It is maintained
(e.g., DA.i.288) that the Buddha's praises are limitless
(aparimāna). One of his most striking characteristics, mentioned
over and over again, is his love of quiet.

E.g., D.i.178f.; he is also fond of solitude
(patissallāna), (D.ii.70; A.iv.438f.; S.v.320f., etc.). When he is
in retirement it is usually akāla for visiting him (D.ii.270). There
are also certain accusations, which are brought against a Buddha by
his rivals, for this very love of solitude. "It is said that his
insight is ruined by this habit of seclusion. By intercourse with
whom does he attain lucidity in wisdom? He is not at his ease in
conducting an assembly, not ready in conversation, he is occupied
only with the fringe of things. He is like a one eyed cow, walking
in a circle" (D.iii.38).

In this his disciples followed his example
(D.iii.37). The dwelling place of a Buddha is called Gandhakuti. His
footprint is called Padacetiya, and this can be seen only when he so
desires it. When once he wishes it to be visible, no one can erase
it. He can also so will that only one particular person shall see it
(DhA.iii.194). It is also said that his power of love is so great
that no evil action can show its results in his presence
(SNA.ii.475). A Buddha never asks for praise, but if his praises are
uttered in his presence he takes no offence (ThagA.ii.42). When the
Buddha is seated in some spot, none has the power of going through
the air above him (SNA.i.222). He prefers to accept the invitations
of poor men to a meal (DhA.ii.135)."

A locality on the banks of the Nerañjarā, in
the neighbourhood of the Bodhi-tree at Buddhagayā. Here, after
leaving Alāra and Uddaka, the Bodhisatta practised during six years
the most severe penances. His companions were the
Pañcavaggiya-monks, who, however, left him when he relaxed the
severity of his austerities (M.i.166). The place chosen by the
Bodhisatta for his penances was called Senā-nigama.

The Jātaka version (J.i.67f) contains
additional particulars. It relates that once the Bodhisatta fainted
under his austerities, and the news was conveyed to his father that
he was dead. Suddhodana, however, refused to believe this,
remembering the prophecy of Kāladevala. When the Bodhisatta decided
to take ordinary food again, it was given to him by a girl, Sujātā,
daughter of Senānī of the township of Senānī. In the neighbourhood
of Uruvelā were also the Ajapāla Banyan-tree, the Mucalinda-tree and
the Rājāyatana-tree, where the Buddha spent some time after his
Enlightenment, and where various shrines, such as the
Animisa-cetiya, the Ratanacankama-cetiya and the Ratanaghara later
came into existence.

From Uruvela the Buddha went to Isipatana,
but after, he had made sixty-one arahants and sent them out on tour
to preach the Doctrine, he returned to Uruvelā, to the
Kappāsikavanasanda and converted the Bhaddavaggiyā (Vin.i.23f;
DhA.i.72). At Uruvelā dwelt also the Tebhātika-Jatilas:
Uruvela-Kassapa, Nadī-Kassapa and Gayā-Kassapa, who all became
followers of the Buddha (Vin.i.25).

According to the Ceylon Chronicles (E.g.,
Mhv.i.17ff; Dpv.i.35, 38, 81), it was while spending the rainy
season at Uruvelā, waiting for the time when the Kassapa brothers
should be ripe for conversion, that the Buddha, on the full-moon day
of Phussa, in the ninth month after the Enlightenment, paid his
first visit to Ceylon.

Mention is made of several temptations of the
Buddha while he dwelt at Uruvela, apart from the supreme contest
with Māra, under the Bodhi-tree. Once Māra came to him in the
darkness of the night in the guise of a terrifying elephant, trying
to frighten him. On another dark night when the rain was falling
drop by drop, Māra came to the Buddha and assumed various wondrous
shapes, beautiful and ugly. Another time Māra tried to fill the
Buddha's mind with doubt as to whether he had really broken away
from all fetters and won complete Enlightenment (S.i.103ff). Seven
years after the Buddha's Renunciation, Māra made one more attempt to
make the Buddha discontented with his lonely lot and it was then,
when Māra had gone away discomfited, that Mars's three daughters,
Tanhā, Ratī and Ragā, made a final effort to draw the Buddha away
from his purpose (S.i.124f).

It was at Uruvelā, too, that the Buddha had
misgivings in his own mind as to the usefulness of preaching the
Doctrine which he had realised, to a world blinded by passions and
prejudices. The Brahmā Sahampatī thereupon entreated the Buddha not
to give way to such diffidence (S.i.136ff; Vin.i.4f). It is recorded
that either on this very occasion or quite soon after, the thought
arose in the Buddha's mind that the sole method of winning Nibbāna
was to cultivate the four satipatthānas and that Sahampatī visited
the Blessed One and confirmed his view (S.v.167; and again, 185). A
different version occurs elsewhere (S.v.232), where the thought
which arose in the Buddha's mind referred to the five controlling
faculties (saddhindriya, etc.), and Brahmā tells the Buddha that in
the time of Kassapa he had been a monk named Sahaka and that then he
had practised these five faculties.

The name Uruvela is explained as meaning a
great sandbank (mahā velā, mahanto vālikarāsi). A story is told
which furnishes an alternative explanation: Before the Buddha's
appearance in the world, ten thousand ascetics lived in this
locality, and they decided among themselves that if any evil thought
arose in the mind of any one of them, he should carry a basket of
sand to a certain spot. The sand so collected eventually formed a
great bank (AA.ii.476; UdA.26; MA.i.376; MT.84). In the Divyāvadāna
(p.202), the place is called Uruvilvā. The Mahāvastu (ii.207)
mentions four villages as being in Uruvelā: Praskandaka, Balākalpa,
Ujjangala and Jangala."

"Bodh Gaya [Hindi, बोधगया] or Bodhgaya is the
place of Buddha's attainment of Enlightenment. The complex, located
about 96 kilometers from Patna (situated at latitude 24° 41' 45" N,
longitude 85° 2' 2" E) in the state of Bihar [बिहार] in India,
contains the Mahabodhi Temple with the diamond throne (called the
Vajrasana) and the holy Bodhi tree and was built over 2500 years
ago. This tree is a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi tree in Sri Lanka,
itself a sapling of the original Bodhi tree.

For Buddhists, Bodh
Gaya is the most important of the four pilgrimage sites related to
the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar,
Lumbini, and Sarnath. As of 2002, Mahabodhi Temple located in Bodh
Gaya, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site specifically nominated for the
international World heritage program.

History

According to Buddhist traditions, circa 500 BC
Prince Gautama Siddhartha, wandering as a monk, reached the sylvan
banks of Falgu River, near the city of Gaya. There he sat in
meditation under a peepal tree (Ficus religiosa). After three
days and three nights of meditation, Siddharta attained
enlightenment and insight, and the answers that he had sought.
Enlightened by the new thought, he spent seven weeks at seven
different spots in the vicinity meditating and considering his
experience. After seven weeks, he travelled to Sarnath, where he
began teaching Buddhism.

Disciples of Gautama Siddhartha began to visit the place where he
had gained enlightenment during the full moon in the month of
Vaisakh (April-May), as per the Hindu calendar. Over time, the place
became known as Bodh Gaya, the day of enlightenment as Buddha
Purnima, and the tree as the Bodhi Tree.

The history of Bodh Gaya
is documented by many inscriptions and pilgrimage accounts. Foremost
among these are the accounts of the Chinese pilgrims Faxian [法顯] in
the 5th century and Xuanzang [玄奘] in the 7th century. The area was
at the heart of a Buddhist civilization for centuries, until it was
conquered by Turkish armies in the 13th century.

Mahabodhi temple

It is believed that 250 years after the
Enlightenment of the Buddha, Emperor Ashoka visited Bodh Gaya. He is
considered to be the original founder of the Mahabodhi temple. It
consisted of an elongated spire crowned by a miniature stupa and a
chhatravali on a platform. A double flight of steps led up to
the platform and the upper sanctum. The mouldings on the spire
contained Buddha images in niches. Some historians believe that the
temple was constructed or renovated in the 1st century during the
Kushan period. With the decline of Buddhism in India, the temple was
abandoned and forgotten, buried under deep layers of soil and sand.

The temple was later restored by Sir Alexander Cunningham as part of
his work for the British Archaeological Society in the late 19th
century. In 1883, Sir Cunningham along with J. D. Beglar and Dr.
Rajendralal Miitra painstakingly excavated the site. Extensive
renovation work was carried out restoring Bodh Gaya to its former
glory.

Other Buddhist temples

Presently, several Buddhist temples and monasteries built and
maintained by the people of Bhutan, China, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal,
Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam dot the landscape
around the temple. These buildings reflect the architectural style,
exterior and interior decoration, and idols of their respective
countries. The idol of Buddha in the Chinese Temple is 200 years old
and was brought from China. Japan's Nippon Temple is shaped like a
pagoda. The Myanmar (Burmese) Temple is also pagoda shaped and is
reminiscent of Pagan. The Thai Temple has a typical sloping, curved
roof covered with golden tiles. Inside, the temple holds a massive
and spectacular bronze idol of Buddha. Next to the Thai temple there
is a 25 meter statue of Buddha located within a garden rhat has
excised there for over 100 years."

"Vesak (from the name of the second month in the Hindu
calendar, Vaisakha) is the most holy time in the Buddhist calendar.
The word Vesak itself is the Sinhalese language word for the
Pali word "Visakha". Vesak is also known as Visakah Puja or
Buddha Purnima in India, Visakha Bucha in Thailand,
Waisak in Indonesia, Vesak (Wesak) in Sri Lanka and
Malaysia, and Saga Dawa in Tibet. The equivalent festival in
Laos is called Vixakha Bouxa. Vesak is a public holiday in
many Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore,
and so on.

History

The decision to agree to celebrate Vesak as the Buddha’s birthday
was formalized at the first Conference of the World Fellowship of
Buddhists (W.F.B.) held in Sri Lanka in 1950, although festivals at
this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition. The
Resolution that was adopted at the World Conference reads as
follows:-

“That this Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists,
while recording its appreciation of the gracious act of His
Majesty, the Maharaja of Nepal in making the full-moon day of
Vesak a Public Holiday in Nepal, earnestly requests the Heads of
Governments of all countries in which large or small number of
Buddhists are to be found, to take steps to make the full-moon
day in the month of May a Public Holiday in honour of the
Buddha, who is universally acclaimed as one of the greatest
benefactors of Humanity."

Hence on Vesak Day, Buddhists all over the world commemorate
three great events: The Birth, Enlightenment and the Passing Away of
Gautama Buddha. As Buddhism spread from India to all parts of the
world, the teachings were readily assimilated with the cultures of
the people who accepted the teachings. As a result, Buddhist art and
culture took on a rich variety of forms with profound gentleness and
kindness as the Buddha expressly forbade the use of force. The
practice of Buddhism was adapted in many ways to suit the nature of
the various cultures that accepted it. As a result of this, Vesak is
celebrated in many different ways all over the world. But in essence
many practices have become universal. This sacred day is purely a
religious festival, and not a festive occasion. On this day all
Buddhists are expected to reaffirm their faith in the Buddha Dhamma
and to lead a noble religious life. It is a day for meditation and
for radiating Loving-Kindness.

The celebration of Vesak

On Vesak day, devout Buddhists are
expected to assemble in various temples before dawn for the
ceremonial hoisting of the Buddhist Flag and the singing of hymns in
praise of the holy triple gem: The Buddha, The Dhamma (His
teachings), and The Sangha (His disciples). Devotees may bring
simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks to lay at the
feet of their teacher. These symbolic offerings are to remind
followers that just as the beautiful flowers would wither away after
a short while and the candles and joss-sticks would soon burn out,
so too is life subject to decay and destruction. Devotees are
enjoined to make a special effort to refrain from killing of any
kind. They are encouraged to partake of vegetarian food for the day.
In some countries, notably Sri Lanka, two days are set aside for the
celebration of Vesak and all liquor shops and slaughter houses are
closed by government decree during the two days. Birds and animals
are also released by the thousands in a symbolic act to liberation,
of giving freedom to those who are in captivity. However, it is not
recommended that birds be released in the heart of crowded cities,
because by doing so we may cause harm to the poor bewildered birds
which are unable to fly far after a long period of captivity.
Unscrupulous bird dealers would recapture such birds for resale to
well meaning devotees. If birds are to be released it is recommended
that this be done in rural areas where the birds can achieve real
freedom. Some devout Buddhists will wear a simple white dress and
spend the whole day in temples with renewed determination to observe
the observance of the Eight Precepts.

Devout Buddhists understand how to lead a noble life according to
the Teaching by making a daily affirmation to observe the eight
Precepts. However, on special days, notably new moon and full moon
days, they observe additional disciplines to train themselves to
practice morality, simplicity and humility.

The Eight Precepts are:

Not to kill

Not to steal

Not to engage in sexual misconduct

Not to indulge in wrong speech

Not to take intoxicating drinks and drugs

To abstain from taking food at unreasonable time

To refrain from sensual pleasures such as dancing, singing
and self-adornment

To refrain from using high and luxurious seats in order to
practice humility.

Devotees are expected to listen to talks given by monks. On this
day monks will recite verses uttered by the Buddha twenty-five
centuries ago, to invoke peace and happiness for the Government and
the people. Buddhists are reminded to live in harmony with people of
other faiths and to respect the beliefs of other people as the
Buddha had taught.

Bringing happiness to others

Celebrating Wesak also means making
special efforts to bring happiness to the unfortunate like the aged,
the handicapped and the sick. To this end, Buddhists will distribute
gifts in cash and kind to various charitable homes throughout the
country. Wesak is also a time for great joy and happiness. But this
joy is expressed not by pandering to one’s appetites but by
concentrating on useful activities such as decorating and
illuminating temples, painting and creating exquisite scenes from
the life of the Buddha for public dissemination. Devout Buddhists
also vie with one another to provide refreshments and vegetarian
food to devotees who visit the temple to pay homage to the Blessed
One.

Float processions

In recent years many Buddhist groups have taken
to organising processions with decorated floats carrying the image
of the Buddha to celebrate Wesak, although this is a relatively
recent tradition. Temples are also decorated modestly in good taste
so as to encourage people to visit the temple to attend the
religious services and not merely to view the decorations.

Paying homage to the Buddha

The Buddha Himself has given
invaluable advice on how to pay homage to Him. Just before He died,
He saw His faithful attendant Ananda, weeping. The Buddha advised
him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all
compounded things (including even His own body) must disintegrate.
He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the
physical body but to regard His teachings (The Dhamma) as their
Teacher from then on, because only the Dhamma truth is eternal and
not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to
pay homage to Him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and
lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow His teachings.
This is how devotees and expected to celebrated Vesak: to use the
opportunity to reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to
develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace
and harmony to mankind.

Related holidays

A similar holiday, called Hanamatsuri
[佛誕] or "Flower Festival", is celebrated in Japan on April 8.
However, Hanamatsuri commemorates only the Buddha's birth. In
Hong Kong, Macao and South Korea, the 8th day of the fourth moon in
the Chinese calendar is a public holiday, as the "Buddha's
Birthday"."

"Vaisākha (Hindi: बैसाखbaisākh or वैशाखvaiśākh) is a month of the
Hindu calendar. In
India's national civil calendar, Vaisakha is the second month of the year,
beginning on 21 April and ending on 21 May.

In lunar religious
calendars, Vaisakha may begin on either the new moon or the full
moon around the same time of year, and is usually the second month
of the year. The harvest festival of Baisakhi [ਵੈਸਾਖੀ]
is celebrated in this month.

In solar religious calendars, as well as the
national calendar of Nepal, Vaisākh begins with the Sun's entry into
Aries,
and is usually the first month of the year.

The main tradition for the passing away
(parinibbāna) v/ith which the Buddhist Era starts is that of the
Southern Buddhists. It is found first in the Sri Lankan chronicles,
the Dīpavamsa and the Mahāvaṃsa as well as the historical
introduction of the Samantapāsādikā, Buddhaghosa's Commentary on the
Vinaya Pitaka, the two first-named separated by about a century from
each other, with the Commentary intervening. The calculation is
based on the lists of kings and the lengths of their reigns
according to the Buddhist traditions of India (including
Sarvāstivādins) and Sri Lanka. According to recent critical opinion,
the Mahāvaṃsa was probably written about the 6th century A.C. The
chronology current in Burma and Siam closely follows that for the
event in Sri Lanka. This date is reckoned from the parinibbāna
(death) of the Buddha in the middle of 544 B.C. The first year of
the Buddhist Era computed from these traditions is 543 B.C.

The traditions of the Jains, whose last tīrthankara Mahāvīra was a
contemporary of the Buddha, are a secondary source. They give
chiefly 527 B.C. as the tradition for Mahāvīra's death. But this
figure is not consistent, as 468,467 and several others are also
current. Based mainly on a list of kings and dynasties who are
supposed to have reigned between 528 and 58 B.C., the list is
regarded by some scholars as absolutely worthless, confusing, as it
does the rulers of Ujjain and Magadha and other kingdoms. On this
tradition the parinibbāna of the Buddha must be post-dated from the
reckoning of the Southern Buddhists, which found its strength in Sri
Lanka, the texts themselves stating that Mahāvāra had predeceased
the Buddha. But the Jain date is contradictory and unreliable as a
basis of calculation.

The tradition of the Northern Buddhists is linked with the Chinese
Dotted Record which is discussed below.

These are the chief chronological points in regard to the initial
year of the Buddhist Era. The others will be noted in passing.

It must be noted that the research done in India particularly in
Asoka and his Inscriptions, as well as in connection with the Greek
invasions of India, has been a very large factor in computing dates.
The Buddhist records, whether in texts or monastic annals in Sri
Lanka have provided the first definite statement of an interval
between two events without which no starting point would have been
possible. The Purānic and the Jain are the principal Indian
traditions. The Northern tradition is led by the Sarvāstivādins.

543 B.C.

Strictly speaking, the traditional year falls within 544-543 B.C.,
according to the present system of dating.

At what stage did the tradition arise in Sri Lanka? The earliest
mention of an interval of time between two memorable events of
interest to Buddhists occurs in the Pali Dīpavamsa. This interval is
218 years between the parinibbāna of the Buddha and the abhiseka of
Asoka.

The Dīpavamsa was a compilation, perhaps by several authors, and its
material was added from time to time.

Although the events chronicled by the finished work do not go beyond
the tims of Mahāsena (275-310 A.C), the work itself is considered as
likely to belong to a period not later than the fourth century A.C.

The Dīpavamsa is actually a redaction of the material which had been
found in "an older work, a sort ot chronicle, of the history of the
island from its legendary beginnings onwards. "(Geiger) This older
work, known as Atthakathā-Mahāvaṃsa, had been written in Old
Sinhalese prose. It probably came down to the arrival of Mahinda in
the first year of king Devānampiya Tissa and appears to have existed
before the Vinayatthakathā was written in the fifth century A.C. Two
eminent critical authorities accept that the Sinhalese Atthakathā
are the same as those styled Porānas and the ancient commentary
entitled Porānatthakathā. Reasons have recently been given to
support that the Dīpavamsa originally was not based on the Sinhalese
works on which depended the Samantapāsādikā and the Mahāvaṃsa and
that it clearly belonged to an earlier stratum of tradition,
undoubtedly the earliest form.

Samantapāsādikā, the historical introduction of which was based on
the Dīpavamsa, the author completing the work and adding to it with
statements which could have been directly drawn from a Sri Lankan
source, the Sinhalese Atthakathā. Whilst Buddhaghosa's work was
completed in 427 A.C. which was the penultimate regnal year of
Mahānāma, the Atthakathā were witten down in the reign of
Vattagāmani (first century B.C.).

In addition to the above, Sri Lanka has preserved a succession of
theras from Upāli, the Buddha's contemporary, to Mahinda. This list
which was taken from "the old Mahāvaṃsa, in Sinhalese prose with
Pali verses, on which our Pali Dīpavamsa and the Mahāvaṃsa are
based," (Adikaram) is preserved in the Parivāra. It plays an
important part in the chronological system on which the Dīpavamsa
and the Mahāvaṃsa are based. Its interest is due to a continuous
synchronological connection between the histories of Sri Lanka and
of India. It is not indicated that the dates should be taken as
authentic, falling as they do within the uncertain periods of
Indo-Sri Lankan history. But that the succession originated in India
itself cannot be definitely ruled out.

When these circumstances are collectively considered, the indication
is that the traditional interval of 218 years may also be traced to
India. Strictly speaking, there is no Indian evidence for it. But
there seems to be nothing demonstrable against the probability that
these earliest of Sri Lankan chronological references and of the
succession of theras have emanated from India, from which country
the religion was introduced to Sri Lanka.

The year in which Mahinda arrived was the first year of Devānampiya
Tissa who, according to Sri Lankan chronology, was consecrated 236
years after the passing away of the Buddha. This figure is thus seen
to be merely a continuation of the traditional reckoning. The
traditional reckoning found its earliest external confirmatory
synchronism in the fifth century A.C. In the monograph an Sri Lanka
relating the history of the Soung dynasty in Pieu-Tien, an embassy
from Sri Lankan king styled Ts'a-b' Mo-ho-nan, is recorded as having
been received in the fifth year of Iuen-kia which scholars have
taken as 428 A.C. The Sri Lankan king has been identified with
Mahānāma (406-428 A.C.) who was the only Sri Lankan king by that
name. The embassy could be dated to 428 A.C, only if the traditional
date of 543 B.C. for the parinibbana of the Buddha were accepted.

Another Chinese record provides an Indo-Sri Lankan synchronism when
it mentions a request of Sirimeghavanna to the Indian emperor
Samudragupta for permission to erect a monastery at Buddhagaya for
pilgrim monks from Sri Lanka. The regnal years of the two rulers
fall, however, within both of the periods calculated from 543 or 483
B.C. for the passing away of the Buddha. These synchronisms are
suplemented by at least three others.

The first Chinese synchronism, however, provides irrefutable proof
that in fifth century Sri Lanka the year of the Buddha's parinibbāna
was reckoned as 543 B.C., whether or not the actual event took place
in that year.

483 B.C.

This is the most widely known date. Its chief advocates for Sri
Lanka have been Geiger and Paranavitana who discussed it
exhaustively in the Introduction to the English translations of
Mahāvaṃsa and of Cūlavamsa (Pt. II), and in the Epigraphia Zeylanica
Vol. Ill respectively. The stand taken by them led them to the
belief that the Sri Lankan chroniclers manipulated the dates in the
regnal years of Sri Lankan kings, which rendered a period of 60
years that needed to be explained. This adjustment was tentatively
(e.g. from Devānampiya Tissa to Elara) traced back to certain
periods which they considered vague, so that when the "excess" was
deducted from 543 B.C., the 483 B.C. was reached. They also held the
view that there was, in Sri Lanka the traces of an era reckoned from
483 B.C.

This view that Sri Lanka shows traces of the use of an era starting
with 483 B.C., has since been completely rejected. As shown in the
discussion on 543 B.C., it is certainly clear that 483 B.C., is
incompatible with the Chinese synchronism of 428 A.C.

The consecration of Asoka took place, according to the earliest Sri
Lankan sources, in the 219th year after the parinibbāna of the
Buddha. Reckoned from 543 B.C. this
would fall in 324 B.C. Asoka was preceded by his father Bindusāra
who in turn ruled after his father, Chandragupta, the founder of the
Maurya dynasty. The traditions of India, Sri Lanka and Burma
completely agree on the length of Chandragupta's reign to have been
24 years. But to that of Bindusāra the Indian Purānic tradition
assigns 25, and the others 28 - so that there is a difference of 3
years. We may take it that Chandragupta, reckoned from 543 B.C.,
came to the throne in 382 B.C. (Purānic: 379 B.C.).

Here there appears to be a difficulty. The names of certain Greek
kings appear in some of Asoka's rock-edicts, more particularly at
Girnar (Xlll-r-e), and their regnal years have been considered and
fairly fixed from Greek and Roman sources. The Greek king Seleucus
Nikator, who invaded India after the death in 323 B.C. of Alexander
the Great, was halted by the Indian king "Sandrakottos of
Palimbothra" with whom he made a treaty. "Sandrakottos of
Palimbothra" was identified as Chandragupta of Pataliputra, that is,
Asoka's grandfather. The date of the treaty has been fixed as 304
B.C., again according to Greek and Roman chronology. Chandragupta
would have ascended the throne between the 323 and 304 B.C. being
the points of time indicated between the death of Alexander the
Great and the treaty with Seleucus Nikator. Asoka's consecration
depends on that of Chandragupta and the latter can hardly be placed,
according to this reckoning later that 320 B.C. (Purānic: 317 B.C.).
The upper limit for Chandragupta's accession being the death of
Alexander the Great, and the lower being the Purānic date, (i.e.
between 323 and 317 B.C.), a working date of 320 B.C. has been
accordingly accepted for this founder of the Maurya dynasty. This
would bring down by 60 years the date of the consecration of Asoka
(which took place four years after he had mounted the throne) and
place the event in 264 B.C. (Purānic: 261 B.C.). Thus there is
greater reason to incline towards 483 B.C. than to 543 B.C. as the
year of the Buddha's parinibbāna.

It will be seen that the dating above arrived at rest on the primary
assumption that the Greek and Roman chronology is, more or less
fixed fairly securely. But a reputed Indian authority on the
Calendar opined that the Olympian era of the ancient Greeks and the
era of foundation of Rome are artificial eras, whose beginnings are
shrouded in mystery.

In the face of this it would be unscientific to use Greek and Roman
classical chronology as our measures.

The Sarvāstivādin Tradition:

Against the interval of 218 years adopted in the Sri Lankan
tradition, between the Buddha's parinibbāna and the consecration of
Asoka, the Sarvastivādin tradition, as reflected in Avadāna s'ataka
(repeated in the Divyāvadāna), attributes 100 years. This school of
thought, too, is of the Hinayāna and the tradition was taken over to
the Chinese from the Sanskrit and thereafter to the Tibetan which
repeats it. Besides the difference in the length of the interval,
the season in which the Buddha's parinibbāna took place is also
variantly described, the Sri Lankan sources calling it Vais'ākha
(May-June) and the others implying the months of December-January,
following which seems to be supported by the botanical evidence of
the off-season flowering of the shorts robusta (sāla) trees by the
death-couch.

If the Northern tradition, be its origin an Indian source, were
aligned to 543 B.C., we should get 662 B.C. as the year of the
Buddha's parinibbana occurred so far back in time as 662 B.C. As a
matter of fact, the trend is in the opposite direction, to place it
conservatively later. Therefore 662 B.C. should not be seriously
considered. For the other two dates to be admissible it must be
shown that the Sarvāstivādin tradition excels the Sri Lankan
tradition, which has yet to be demostrated. On the other hand it is
generally accepted that the Sarvāstivādin tradition is not
canonical, whilst the other manifestly is; and it has been stated
(in some instances, at any rate) that "the Pali version of the
school of the Theravādins proves itself to be the most faithful
preserver of an earlier tradition" (E. Waldschmidt), an opinion to
which Hermann Oldenberg had earlier tended after his examination of
the Vinaya Pitaka. Furthermore the figure 100 is mentioned, in these
two Sarvāstivāidin books and their Tibetan translation, in
connection with a pseudo-prophecy, which is also its context in the
Dīpavamsa, where the same figure is specified or implied in the
earlier portion. It is necessary, however, to note that the figure
was ignored in Sri Lanka if not rejected, when plain and simple
chronological statements came to be categorically made in regard to
events as such, so that the Sri Lankan tradition persisted in the
figure 218 in its subsequent literature, and did not go by 100.

The same reasoning can be applied to 501 B.C. But against 365 B.C. a
further objection might be made. This date is less than half a
century prior to the death of Alexander the Great on the supposition
that the Greek dates are final. It is difficult, therefore, to be
rid of the impression that it is too "modern",
comparatively-speaking, too close to certain "historic" events by
Greek and Roman reckoning. At any rate this date requires the basic
assumption that the Northern sources are preferable to the Sri
Lankan which is not warranted by the results of critical
scholarship.

The incompatibility of the season of the Buddha's parinibbāna is not
vital to the argument. The clear-cut issue is of the year of the
event. All the early sources being merely compilations by different
people at different times from different material, it is easy enough
to explain away such immaterial points in the absence of irrefutable
evidence to the contrary. This is particularly the case when it
seems that there was a manifest desire to place the Buddha's
parinibbāna, birth and Enlightenment to the same seasons, that is
Vais'ākha. (May-June) to fix attention on an inconsequential detail
is to lose the sense of proportion.

We may thus conclude that there is less reason to attach ourselves
to the Sarvāstivādin tradition which, translated into our system of
chronology, would place the parinibbāna of the Buddha to B.C. 662 or
501 or 365. The round figure 100, which gives rise to these dates,
is more artificial and suspicious than the odd 218 found in the Sri
Lankan sources which were derived from the Pali. It is also well to
remember that the scholars who removed sixty years from the regnal
years of certain early Sri Lankan kings in order to arrive at 483
B.C., were led to do so by the roundness of the figures given to the
lengths of their reigns which figures they held to be specious. If
their attitude is justified, it should be equally applicable to the
Sarvāstivādin figure of 100. It is also pertinent to consider the
supposition that the Sarvāstivādins confused Asoka with Kālāsoka.

Other Principal Dates

Among the three best known of other dates which have been offered by
scholars, both Eastern and Western, are 485, 486 and 487 B.C. This
sequence is obviously based on the Chinese Dotted Record about which
a few words are necessary.

After the Vinaya recital at the First Council (sangīti), which was
held on July 15th following the Buddha's parinibbāna Upāli signed
the closure of the assembly by placing a dot. The succeeding
disciples added to this, with one dot for each year. Sanghabhadra,
"who is said to have been a samana of the Western region, a name
often used for "India" of course including Sri Lanka (Takakusu) was
in China in 489 A.C. He is said to have asked the samana Kung-ku why
the marking had not been continued from that year, after which it is
claimed to have been kept up till 535 A.C. Sanghabhadra, who had the
Samantapāsādikā translated into Chinese, placed a dot in 489 A.C. to
mark the end of his labour. There was then a total of 975 dots,
which would give 486 B.C. for the year of the Buddha's parinibbana.
This is the note current in the Shushotenki (The Dotted by Many
Disciples).

Now in regard to the year of the sangīti there are two opinions, one
that it took place in the year of the parinibbāna and the other in
the year following - as accepted by Ta-t' ang-hsi-yu-chi.
"Sanghabhadra's date of the Buddha, B.C. 486, was not quite unknown
to the Buddhist writers in China, but was never considered as
authoritative" (Takakusu). Authoritative opinion has been expressed
that it was most unlikely that it was free from error seeing that
the marking had extended over a period of nearly one thousand years.

It is interesting to note that one form of the Khotan tradition
places Asoka 250 years after the parinibbāna of Sri Lankan one.

The years 949, 463, 386 and 383 B.C., too, are sometimes assigned,
but they have no scientific basic and are interesting only to show
the differences of opinion which exist in regard dins or Tibetans
and is suprisingly close to to an important event.

Conclusion

In the early discussions the year adopted was 477 B.C. It was based
on an erroneous reckoning of the date of Chandragupta's accession as
315 B.C.

It will be seen from the foregoing that there is a greater degree of
agreement among scholars than there had been some decades ago. In
fact, should 483 B.C. be accepted, the differences of opinion is
mainly in the range of some two or three years. Nevertheless, this
is no ground for accepting the year 483 B.C.

In fine, all that can be presently stated is that each major date is
beset with own difficulties. There is no consensus of opinion,
because unimpeachable evidence is wanting, that the parinibbāna of
the Buddha occurred in such and such a year. In the present state of
knowledge it would appear that we shall have to revert to 543 B.C.
as, at least, a sign-post. It may be mentioned as a matter of
record, that the year 2500 Buddha Jayanti, calculated from 543 B. C.
as marking the parinibbāna of the Buddha and commencement of the
Buddhist Era, was inaugurated on Vais'ākha Day (May-23rd/24th 1956)
in all Theravada countries with wide celebrations. The Buddhist
groups in Western lands, as well as most Mahāyāna lands,
participated in them in deference to the early traditional date."

They had gone picnicking with their wives in
a forest glade between Bārānasi and Uruvelā. One of them had no
wife, and for him they found a courtesan; but she awaited the
opportunity and ran away with their goods.

While seeking for her, they saw the Buddha
and enquired if he had seen a woman. But he answered, should they
not rather seek the "self" than a woman. They all agreed thereto,
and he preached to them. At the end of the sermon they realized the
Truth and were ordained (Vin.i.23f.; DhA.ii.33f).

Their conversion was one of the subjects
sculptured in the Relic Chamber of the Mahā Thūpa. Mhv.xxx.79.

According to the Extended Mahāvaṃsa (i.298) they were the
step-brothers of the king of Kosala."

"6. On the immovable, firm, unshaken throne, a place worthy
of the eminent one, the highest of men sat down, establishing himself in the
four branches (of fortitude). 7. Seated on this most excellent throne, at the
foot of the king of trees, the chief of men, the highest among human beings,
like a fearless lion, did not tremble, when he saw Māra with the hosts of his
army. 8. Having overcome the dispute of Māra and put him to flight together with
his army, the Conqueror, full of joy, wise, tranquil, and steadfast, — 9.
mastered the state of meditation which consists in spiritual insight, and the
thorough perfection of attention, (and also the knowledge of) many various
qualities, distinguished by manifold attributes. 10. Mastering the knowledge of
former existences and the gift of supernatural vision, the enlightened great
Sage spent three watches of the night. 11. Thereafter, in the last watch, he
revolved (in his mind) the causes of existence; the glorious One fixed the mind
on them in direct and reverse order. 12. Having thoroughly understood the
Dhamma, the highly wise One, who had reached emancipation by the destruction of
human passions, taught (created beings) the abandonment (of temporal obstacles)
and the attainment of the path (to sanctification). 13. The great Sage obtained
("abhisambuddha") the most excellent knowledge of omniscience. Thus first arose
the title „Buddha, Buddha". 14. Having penetrated all qualities and uttered his
proclamation (of triumph) [This proclamation of triumph is the famous stanza,
Dhp., v. 163.], the light-giver then spent seven days on that most excellent
throne. 15. He in whom all fear had ceased, who had performed his duties and was
free from sin, delighted, glad, and joyful, thought many kind thoughts. 16. In
one moment, in one instant a Buddha surveys the whole world; he unveiled his
fivefold power of vision and looked down over many people. 17. The highest of
men sent forth the irresistible power of his knowledge; the stainless teacher
then saw the most excellent Lankādīpa, — 18. an exquisite country, endowed with
a beautiful climate, fertile, a mine of treasures, which had been visited by
former Buddhas and had been inhabited by multitudes of Saints. 19. Perceiving
the most excellent island of Lankā, a fertile region, a dwelling-place fit for
Saints, the compassionate One who well understood the right and wrong time, thus
thought: 20. „In the present time Yakkhas, Bhūtas and Rakkhasas (inhabit)
Lankādīpa, who are all too low for (adopting the doctrine of) the Buddhas; their
power I can outroot. 21. Having driven out the hosts of Yakkhas, the Pisācas and
Avaruddhakas, I will establish peace in the island and cause it to be inhabited
by men. 22. ... Let those wicked beings fully live out their span of life;
(afterwards) there, in the most excellent Lankādīpa, an opportunity will arise
for (the propagation of) the Faith. 23. Having removed (those) beings, having
comforted many people and taught them the way, the road, the path of Saints, —
24. I shall reach complete Parinibbāna like the setting sun. Four months after
my Parinibbāna the first convocation will be held ...; 25. a hundred and
eighteen years later the third convocation will take place, for the sake of the
propagation of the Faith. [A mention of the second convocation, which was held a
hundred years after Buddha's death, is wanting in the MSS.; the third is said to
have been held 118 years after the second.] 26. Then there will be a ruler over
this Jambudīpa, a highly virtuous, glorious monarch known as Dhammāsoka. 27.
This king Asoka will have a son, a clever man, Mahinda, the learned converter of
Lankādīpa." 28. Having foreseen these circumstances which were full of
importance, (and understanding) the right and wrong time, the blessed Buddha
placed a (divine) guard over this island. 29. 30. The Jina, having performed his
various duties during the seven-times seven days (at the following places, that
is) the throne, the Animisa (Cetiya) the cloister, the jewel-house, the Ajapāla
and Mucalinda trees, and seventhly near the Khirapāla grove, the hero went to
Bārānasī in order to establish the kingdom of the Truth. 31. When he established
the kingdom of the Truth and preached the most excellent Truth, the conversion
of eighteen kotis of beings took place. 32. Kondañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahānāma,
and Assaji, these five great Theras attained emancipation when he had preached
the Anattalakkhana discourse. 33. Residing in Bārānasī, in Isipatana, the Jina
released the four friends of Yasa and, besides, the fifty youths. 34. Having
spent the rainy season in Bārānasī, the Tathāgata released in the Kappāsika
grove the Bhaddavaggiyas. 35. Wandering thence from place to place, he came to
Uruvela; there the stainless Teacher saw Uruvelakassapa, an ascetic of the
Jatila sect. 36. In the room where Kassapa kept his sacred fire, the highest of
men conquered a serpent. Witnessing this miracle they all invited the Tathāgata:
37. „Reside here, o Gotama, during the four winter months; we will daily provide
you with rice." 38. The Tathāgata, the chief of men, residing during the winter
in Uruvela, devoted himself to the conversion of the Jatilas together with their
followers. 39. (Once, during that period,) both Angas and Magadhas prepared a
great sacrifice. (Kassapa), seeing that great gains (could be obtained) at this
sacrifice, conceived the following ignoble thought: 40. 41. „The great Samana
possesses high (magical) powers and great faculties; if he shall perform
miracles or preach in the great assembly, the fee will escape me and go to
Gotama. Well, the great Samana should not appear in the assembly." 42. The
Tathāgata understands action and resolution, intention and desire, the sixteen
constituent parts of thought. 43. Having understood the thought of the Jatila,
the Sage, who looks through the minds of other men, went by his high (magical)
power to (Uttara-) Kurudīpa collecting alms. 44. Near the Anotatta lake Buddha
took his meal; there he gave himself up to meditation (jhāna) and compassionate
thoughts."

One of three brothers, the
Tebhātika-Jatilas, living at Uruvelā. He lived on the banks of
the Nerañjarā with five hundred disciples. Further down the
river lived his brothers Nadī-Kassapa with three hundred
disciples and Gayā-Kassapa with two hundred. The Buddha visited
Uruvela-Kassapa and took lodging for the night where the sacred
fire was kept, in spite of Kassapa's warning that the spot was
inhabited by a fierce Nāga. The Buddha, by his magical powers,
overcame, first this Nāga and then another, both of whom vomited
fire and smoke. Kassapa being pleased with this exhibition of
iddhi-power, undertook to provide the Buddha with his daily
food. Meanwhile the Buddha stayed in a grove near by, waiting
for the time when Kassapa should be ready for conversion. Here
he was visited by the Four Regent Gods, Sakka, Brahmā and
others. The Buddha spent the whole rainy season there,
performing, in all, three thousand five hundred miracles of
various kinds, reading the thoughts of Kassapa, splitting
firewood for the ascetics' sacrifices, heating stoves for them
to use after bathing in the cold weather, etc. Still Kassapa
persisted in the thought, "The great ascetic is of great magic
power, but he is not an arahant like me." Finally the Buddha
decided to startle him by declaring that he was not an arahant,
neither did the way he followed lead to arahantship. Thereupon
Kassapa owned defeat and reverently asked for ordination. The
Buddha asked him to consult with his pupils, and they cut off
their hair and threw it with their sacrificial utensils into the
river and were all ordained. Nadī-Kassapa and Gayā-Kassapa came
to inquire what had happened, and they, too, were ordained with
their pupils. At Gayāsīsa the Buddha preached to them the Fire
Sermon (Āditta-pariyāya), and they all attained arahantship.

From Gayāsīsa the Buddha went to Rājagaha with the Kassapas and
their pupils, and in the presence of Bimbisāra and the assembled
populace Uruvela-Kassapa declared his allegiance to the Buddha.1

Later, in the assembly of monks, Uruvela-Kassapa was declared to
be the chief of those who had large followings (aggam
mahaparisanam)."

The others being Kannamunda, Rathakāra,
Chaddanta, Kunāla, Mandākinī and Sīhappapāta. It is surrounded by
five mountain peaks, Sudassanakūta, Citrakūta, Kālakūta,
Gandhamādana and Kelāsa.

Sudassanakūta is concave, shaped like a
crow's beak and overshadows the whole lake, which is hidden also by
the other peaks. The lake is 150 leagues long, 50 leagues wide and
50 leagues deep. All the rains that fall on the five peaks and all
the rivers that rise in them flow into the lake. The light of the
sun and of the moon never falls directly on the, water but only in
reflection. This means that the water is always cool, hence the
name.

Many bathing places are found therein free
from fish and tortoises, with crystal clear waters, where Buddhas,
Pacceka Buddhas and arahants bathe, and whither devas and yakkhas
come for sport. Four channels open out of the lake in the direction
of the four quarters: Sīhamukha, Hatthimukha, Assamukha and
Usabhamukha. Lions abound on the banks of the Sīhamukha; elephants,
horses and cattle respectively on the others. Four rivers flow from
these channels; the eastward river encircles the lake three times,
waters the non-human regions of Himavā and enters the ocean. The
rivers that flow north and westward flow in those directions through
regions inhabited by non-humans and also enter the ocean. The
southward river, like the eastward, flows three times round the lake
and then straight south over a rocky channel for sixty leagues and
then down a precipice, forming a cascade six miles in width. For
sixty leagues the water dashes through the air on to a rock named
Tiyaggala, whereon by the force of the impact of the waters the
Tiyaggalapokkharani has been formed, fifty leagues deep. From this
lake the waters run through a rocky chasm for sixty leagues, then
underground for sixty leagues to an oblique mountain, Vijjha, where
the stream divides into five, like the fingers of the hand. The part
of this river which encircles the original lake Anotatta is called
Āvattagangā; the sixty leagues of stream which run over the rocky
channel, Kanhagangā; the sixty leagues of waterfall in the air,
Ākāsagangā; the sixty leagues flowing out of the
Tiyaggala-pokkharanī and through the rocky gorge is called
Bahalagangā, and the river underground, Ummaggagangā. The five
streams into which the river is divided after leaving the oblique
mountain Vijjha are called Gangā, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhū and
Mahī (SnA.ii.407; 437-9; MA.ii.585f.; AA.ii.759-60).

A wind called Siñcanakavāta (sprinkling wind)
takes water from the Anotatta lake and sprinkles the Gandhamādana
mountain with it (SnA.i.66). The lake is one of the last to dry up
at the end of the world (A.iv.101). To be bathed in the waters of
the lake is to be thoroughly cleansed. Thus the Buddha's mother, on
the day of her conception, dreamt that she had been taken to the
lake and had bathed there. This was interpreted to mean that she
would give birth to a holy son (MA.ii.918).

During periods when the world does not
possess a Buddha, the Pacceka Buddhas, who dwell in Gandhamādana,
come amongst men and wash their faces in the lake before starting on
their aerial journey for Isipatana (MA.i.386) or elsewhere (E.g.,
J.iii.319, iv.368). The Buddha would often go to Anotatta for his
ablutions and proceed from there to Uttarakuru for alms, returning
to the lake to have his meal and spend the hot part of the day on
its banks. E.g., before his visit to Uruvelakassapa (Vin.i.28); and
again during the three months he spent in Tāvatimsa (DhA.iii.222);
see also J.i.80.

Examples are given of other holy men doing
the same. E.g., Mātangapandita, J.iv.379; see also DhA.ii.211.

There are many bathing-places in the lake;
those for the Buddhas, Pacceka Buddhas, monks, ascetics, the Four
Regent gods and other inhabitants of the deva-worlds, and for the
goddesses, were all separate from each other. In the bathing-place
of the goddesses there once arose a dispute between Kālakannī and
Sirī as to which should bathe first (J.iii.257ff). Other instances
are given of goddesses bathing in the lake and resting on the banks
of the Manosilātala next to it (E.g., J.v.392).

It was considered the summit of iddhi-power
to be able to obtain water from Anotatta. Thus, when the Buddha
wished to make known the great powers of Sumana-Sāmanera, he
expressed a desire to have water fetched from the lake in which to
wash his feet; no one was willing or able to fetch it except the
novice Sumana (DhA.iv.134ff). And Sona, to show his iddhi to the 101
kings who escorted his brother Nanda to his hermitage, brought water
from Anotatta for them and for their retinue (J.v.320-1). To provide
water from the lake for the personal use of some eminent person is
considered one of the best ways of showing him esteem. Thus, when a
friendship was established between the king of the swans, Javahamsa,
and the king of Benares, the former brought the famous water from
Anotatta to the king for his ablutions (J.iv.213). Pannaka, the Nāga
king of Anotatta, promised to supply water to Sumana-Sāmanera as
amends for his earlier discourtesy (DhA.iv.134, also ThagA.457 where
the story is given in detail); and Nanda, when he wished to ask his
brother's forgiveness for disobedience, thought it a good way of
showing his repentance to bring him water from the lake (J.v.314).
This water had curative powers; Anuruddha's abdominal affliction was
cured by its use (DhA.iv.129). To be able to use water from Anotatta
daily was a great luxury and a sign of real prosperity. Gods brought
to Asoka eight pingo-loads of lake water in sixteen pots for his use
(Sp.i.42; Mhv.v.24; 84; xi.30). Vessavana employed yakkhinis to
fetch water for him in turn, each turn lasting for four to five
months. It was exhausting work and some of them died before their
term of service was over (DhA.i.40).

Regular assemblies of the devas and yakkhas
were held on the banks of Anotatta, at which contests of skill took
place (E.g, among the daughters of Vessavana, demonstrating their
ability to dance, VvA.131-2). Sometimes the Buddha would go there
with a company of monks and preach or make proclamations (E.g.,
Ap.i.299). Monks would often dwell there in meditation and come when
summoned (Dvy.399).

A mahā-kappa is measured by reckoning the
amount of time that would be required to empty the Anotatta lake, by
dipping into it a blade of kusa-grass, and shaking out from it one
drop of water once in every hundred years (PvA.254).

Just as the water of Anotatta, having
ultimately entered the ocean through the Ganges, would never turn
back, so the Bodhisatta, in his last birth, would never turn back
from his purpose of becoming Buddha for the sake of becoming a
cakkavatti (Mil.286-7).

The Divyāvadāna speaks of a class of devas
who dwelt near Anotatta, whom it calls Anavatapta-kāyikādevatā
(p.153)."

A class of non human beings generally described
as amanussā. They are mentioned with Devas, Rakkhasas, Dānavas,
Gandhabbas, Kinnaras, and Mahoragas (? Nāgas) (E.g., J.v.420).

In other lists (E.g., PvA. 45, 55) they range
immediately above the Petas; in fact, some of the happier Petas are
called Yakkhas. Elsewhere (E.g., A.ii.38) they rank, in progressive
order, between manussā and gandhabbā. They are of many different
kinds: spirits, ogres, dryads, ghosts, spooks. In the early records,
yakkha, like nāgā, as an appellative, was anything but depreciative.
Thus not only is Sakka, king of the gods, so referred to (M.i.252;
J.iv.4; DA.i.264), but even the Buddha is spoken of as a yakkha in
poetic diction (M.i.386). Many gods, such as Kakudha, are so
addressed (S.i.54).

According to a passage in the Vimānavatthu
Commentary, (VvA.333) which gives illustrations, the term is used
for Sakka, the Four Regent Gods (Mahārājāno), the followers of
Vessavana, and also for puriso (individual soul?). In the scholiast
to the Jayadissa Jātaka (J.v.33), the figure of the hare in the moon
is also called yakkha. Of these above named, the followers of
Vessavana appear to be the Yakkhas proper. The term yakkha as
applied to purisa is evidently used in an exceptionally
philosophical sense as meaning "soul" in such passages as ettāvatā
yakkhassa suddhi (SN.vs.478), or ettāvat' aggam no vadanti h' ekā,
yakkhassa suddhim idha pānditāse (SN.vs.875).

In the Niddesa (MNid.282), yakkha is
explained by satta, nara, mānava, posa, puggala, jīva, jagu, jantu,
indagu, manuja. The last term is significant as showing that yakkha
also means "man."

The cult of yakkhas seems to have arisen
primarily from the woods and secondarily from the legends of sea
faring merchants. To the latter origin belong the stories connected
with vimānas found in or near the sea or in lakes. The worship of
trees and the spirits inhabitating them is one of the most primitive
forms of religion. Some, at least, of the yakkhas are called rukkha
devatā (E.g., J.iii.309, 345; Pv.i.9; PvA.5) (spirits of trees), and
others bhummadevatā, (PvA.45,55) (spirits of the earth), who, too,
seem to have resided in trees. Generally speaking, the Yakkhas were
decadent divinities, beings half deified, having a deva's
supernormal powers, particularly as regards influencing people,
partly helpful, partly harmful. They are sometimes called devatā
(E.g., S.i.205), or devaputta (E.g., PvA. 113, 139). Some of these,
like Indakūta and Suciloma, are capable of intelligent questioning
on metaphysics and ethics. All of them possess supernatural powers;
they can transfer themselves at will, to any place, with their
abodes, and work miracles, such as assuming any shape at will. An
epithet frequently applied is mahiddhika (E.g., Pv.ii.9; J.vi.118).
Their appearance is striking as a result of former good kamma
(Pv.i.2, 9; ii.11; iv.3, etc.). They are also called kāmakāmī,
enjoying all kinds of luxuries (Pv.i.3), but, because of former bad
kamma, they are possessed of odd qualities, thus they are shy, they
fear palmyra leaf and iron. Their eyes are red and they neither wink
nor cast a shadow. J.iv.492; v.34; vi.336, 337; these various
characteristics are, obviously, not found in all Yakkhas. The
Yakkhas are evidently of different grades - as is the case
with all classes of beings – the highest among them approximate very
nearly to the devas and have deva-powers, the lowest resemble petas.
The Yakkhas are specially mentioned as being afraid of palm leaves
(J.iv.492).

Their abode is their self created palace,
which is anywhere, in the air, in trees, etc. These are mostly
ākasattha (suspended in the air), but some of them, like the abode
of Ālavaka, are bhumattha (on the ground) and are described as being
fortified (SNA.i.222). Sometimes whole cities e.g.,
Ālakamandā stand under the protection of, or are
inhabited by, Yakkhas.

In many respects they resemble the Vedic
Pisācas, though they are of different origin. They are evidently
remnants of an ancient demonology and have had incorporated in them
old animistic beliefs as representing creatures of the wilds and the
forests, some of them based on ethnological features. (See Stede:
Gespenstergeschichten des Petavatthu v.39ff ).

In later literature the Yakkhas have been
degraded to the state of red eyed cannibal ogres. The female Yakkhas
(Yakkhinī) are, in these cases, more fearful and evil minded than
the male. They eat flesh and blood (J.iv.549; v.34); and devour even
men (D.ii.346; J.ii.15ff.) and corpses (J.i.265). They eat babies
(J.v.21; vi.336) and are full of spite and vengeance (DhA.i.47;
ii.35f.). The story of Bhūta Thera is interesting because his elder
brothers and sisters were devoured by a hostile Yakkha, so the last
child is called Bhūta to propitiate the Yakkha by making him the
child's sponsor!

Ordinarily the attitude of the Yakkhas
towards man is one of benevolence. They are interested in the
spiritual welfare of the human beings with whom they come in contact
and somewhat resemble tutelary genii. In the Atānātiya Sutta
(D.iii.194f), however, the Yakkha king, Vessavana, is represented as
telling the Buddha that, for the most part, the Yakkhas believe
neither in the Buddha nor in his teachings, which enjoin upon his
followers abstention from various evils and are therefore
distasteful to some of the Yakkhas. Such Yakkhas are disposed to
molest the followers of the Buddha in their woodland haunts. Cp. the
story of the Yakkha who wished to kill Sāriputta (Ud.iv.4). But the
Mahā Yakkhas (a list in D.iii.204f), the generals and commanders
among Yakkhas, are always willing to help holy men and to prevent
wicked Yakkhas from hurting them. Among Yakkhas are some beings who
are sotāpannas - e.g., Janavasabha, Suciloma and Khara (s.v.).
Some Yakkhas even act as messengers from another world, and will
save prospective sinners from committing evil (Pv.iv.1). The case of
the Yakkha Vajirapāni is of special interest. D.i.95. The Commentary
(DA.i.264) says he is not an ordinary Yakkha, but Sakka himself.

He is represented as a kind of mentor,
hovering in the air, threatening to kill Ambattha, if he does not
answer the Buddha's question the third time he is asked. In many
cases the Yakkhas are "fallen angels" and come eagerly to listen to
the word of the Buddha in order to be able to rise to a higher
sphere of existence e.g., Piyankaramātā and
Punabbasumātā, and even Vessavana, listening to Velukandakī
Nandamātā reciting the Parāyana Vagga (A.iv.63). At the preaching of
the Mahāsamaya Sutta (q.v.) many hundreds of thousands of Yakkhas
were present among the audience.

It has been pointed out (Stede, op. cit) that
the names of the Yakkhas often give us a clue to their origin and
function. These are taken from (a) their bodily appearance
e.g., Kuvannā, Khara, Kharaloma, Kharadāthika, Citta, Cittarāja,
Silesaloma, Sūciloma and Hāritā; (b) their place of residence,
attributes of their realms, animals, plants, etc. e.g.,
Ajakalāpaka, Ālavaka (forest dweller), Uppala, Kakudha (name of
plant), Kumbhīra, Gumbiya, Disāmukha, Yamamoli, Vajira, Vajirapāni
or Vajirabāhu, Sātāgira, Serīsaka; (c) qualities of character, etc.
e.g., Adhamma, Katattha, Dhamma, Punnaka, Māra, Sakata; (d)
embodiments of former persons e.g., Janavasabha (lord of
men= Bimbisāra), Dīgha, Naradeva, Pandaka, Sīvaka, Serī.

Vessavana (q.v.) is often mentioned as king
of the Yakkhas. He is one of the four Regent Gods, and the Ātānātiya
Sutta (D.iii.199ff) contains a vivid description of the Yakkha
kingdom of Uttarakuru, with its numerous cities, crowds of
inhabitants, parks, lakes and assembly halls. Vessavana is also
called Kuvera, and the Yakkhas are his servants and messengers. They
wait upon him in turn. The Yakkhinīs draw water for him, and often
are so hard worked that many die in his service. E.g., J.iv.492.
Mention is also made (e.g., DA.ii.370) of Yakkhadāsīs who have to
dance and sing to the devas during the night. Early in the morning
they drink a cup of toddy (surā) and go off into a deep sleep, from
which they rise betimes in the evening ready for their duties.

No one, apparently, is free from this
necessity of waiting upon the king even Janavasabba has
to run errands for Vessavana (D.ii.207). Among the duties of
Vessavana is the settling of disputes between the devas, and this
keeps him (J.vi.270) much occupied. In this work he is helped by the
Yakkhasenāpati, whose business it is to preside over the courts
during eight days of each mouth (SNA.i.197). The Yakkhas hold
regular assemblies on Manosilātala on the Bhagalavatīpabbata
(SNA.i.187; cp. D.iii.201 and DA.iii.967). As followers of Kuvera,
lord of riches, the Yakkhas are the guardians and the liberal
spenders of underground riches, hidden treasures, etc., with which
they delight men. E.g., Pv.ii.11; PvA.145; Pv.iv.12; PvA.274. These
were seven yakkhas who guarded the wealth of Jotiyasetthi
(DhA.iv.208f.).

It is difficult to decide whether the
Yakkhas, who are the aborigines of Ceylon (Lankā), were considered
human or non human. Kuvenī, one of their princesses, and her maid,
can both assume different forms, but Vijaya marries Kuveni and has
two children by her. (Cp. Vin.iii.37; iv. 20; where sexual
intercourse with a Yakkha is forbidden). The Yakkhas are invisible,
and Vijaya is able to kill them only with the help of Kuveni
(Mhv.vii.36); but their clothes are found fit for Vijaya and his
followers to wear (Mhv.vii.38). Again, Cetiyā (q.v.) could make
herself invisible and assume the form of a mare, but Pandukābhaya
lived with her for four years and she gave him counsel in battle.
Later, when he held festivities, he had the Yakkha Cittarāja on the
throne beside him (Mhv.x.87). In all probability these Yakkhas were
originally considered as humans, but later came to be confused with
non humans. Their chief cities were Lankāpura and Sirīsavatthu.

"A stupa (from the Sanskrit) is a type of
Buddhist structure found across the Indian subcontinent, Asia and
increasingly in the Western World. Stupas are known in many Southeast
Asian countries as chedi
(from a Pāli synonym of stupa), and in some countries (particularly Sri
Lanka) as dagoba (from Sanskrit dhatu- element, component,
or relic + garbha - storehouse or repository).

The stupa is the earliest Buddhist religious
monument and was originally only a simple mound made up of mud or clay,
or a cairn in barren areas, to cover supposed relics of the Buddha.
After the ‘passing away’ of the Buddha his remains were cremated and the
ashes divided and buried under eight stupas with two further stupas
encasing the urn and the embers. Little is known about these early
stupas, particularly since it has not been possible to identify the
original ten monuments. However, some later stupas, such as at Sarnath
and Sanchi, seem to be embellishments of earlier mounds. In the third
century BC, after his conversion to Buddhism, the emperor Ashoka had the
original stupas opened and the remains distributed among the several
thousand stupas he had built. Nevertheless, the stupas at the eight
places associated with the life of the Buddha continued to be of
particular importance. Accordingly, the importance of a stupa changed
from being a funerary monument to being an object of veneration. As a
consequence their appearance changed also.

They evolved into large hemispherical mounds with
features such as the torana (gateway), the vedica (fence-like
enclosure evolved from the vedic villages), the harmika (a square
platform with railings on top of the stupa), chattrayashti (the
parasol or canopy) and a circumambulatory around the stupa. From the
first century BCE onwards, stupas were incorporated into the hall of the
chaitya-griha.

Abb.: Stupa in Sanchi
(Bildquelle: Wikipedia)

The oldest existing stupa is at Sanchi, India,
while the tallest is the Phra Pathom Chedi (พระปฐมเจดีย์)
in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, with a height of 127 metres.

The stupa evolved into the pagoda as Buddhism
spread to other Asian countries. The pagoda has varied forms that also
include bellshaped and pyramidal ones. Today, in the Western context,
there is no clear distinction between the stupa and the pagoda. But in
general stupa is used for a Buddhist structure of India or
south-east Asia, while pagoda refers to a building in east Asia
which can be entered and which may be secular in purpose.

Fundamentally, a stupa is essentially made up of
the following five constituents:

Each of these components is rich in metaphoric
content and is identified with one of the five cosmic elements said to
make up the entire manifested existence. These are earth, water, fire,
air and space.

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a union territory of
India. Informally, the territory's name is often abbreviated to A
& N Islands, or ANI. It is located in the Indian Ocean,
in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal. It is comprised of two
island groups -the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands - which
separate the Andaman Sea to the east from the Indian Ocean. These
two groups are separated by the 10° N parallel, the Andamans lying
to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The
capital of this territory is the Andamanese town of Port Blair.

Abb.: Lage der Andamanen und Nikobaren
[Bidlquelle: Wikipedia]

The territory's population as per the most recent (2001) Census
of India was 356,152. Added together, the total land area of the
territory is approximately 8,249 km2.

History

Name origins

The name Andaman presumably comes from Handuman,
which is Malay for the Hindu god Hanuman. The name Nicobar
is Malay for land of the naked (people).

First inhabitants

The Andaman and Nicobar islands have been
inhabited for several thousand years, at the very least. The
earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200
years; however, the indications from genetic, cultural and
linguistic isolation studies point to habitation going back 30,000
to 60,000 years, well into the Middle Paleolithic.

In the Andaman Islands, the various Andamanese peoples maintained
their separated existence through the vast majority of this time,
diversifying into distinct linguistic, cultural and territorial
groups. By the 1850s when they first came into sustained contact by
outside groups, the indigenous peoples of the Andamans were:

the Great Andamanese, who collectively represented at least
10 distinct sub-groups and languages;

the Jarawa;

the Jangil (or Rutland Jarawa);

the Onge; and

the Sentinelese (most isolate of all the groups).

In total, these peoples numbered somewhere around 7,000 at the
time of these first encounters. As the numbers of settlers from the
mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary
indentured labourers, later purposely recruited farmers), these
indigenous peoples lost territory and numbers in the face of land
encroachment and the effects of various epidemic diseases. The
Jangil and most of the Great Andamanese groups soon became extinct;
presently there remain only approximately 400-450 indigenous
Andamanese, the Jarawa and Sentinelese in particular maintaining a
steadfast independence and refusing most attempts at contact.

The indigenous peoples of the Nicobars (unrelated to the
Andamanese) have a similarly isolated and lengthy association with
the islands. There are two main groups:

the Nicobarese, or Nicobari, living throughout many
of the islands; and

the Shompen, restricted to the interior of Great Nicobar.

Pre-colonial era

The islands provided a temporary maritime base
for ships of the Marathas in the 17th century. The legendary
privateer and admiral Kanhoji Angre harassed colonial shipping
routes with a base in the islands. In addition there are legends of
a cannibalistic tribe led by their dark, primitive, fearsome leader:
A.D. Gupta who terrorized early inhabitants.

British colonial period

After an initial attempt to set up a
colony in the islands by the British was abandoned after only a few
years (1789-1796), a second attempt from 1858 proved to be more
permanent. The primary purpose was to set up a
penal colony for dissenters and independence fighters from the
Indian subcontinent.

The British used the islands as an isolated prison for members of
the Indian independence movement. The mode of imprisonment was
called Kalapani. The Cellular Jail in Port Blair was regarded
as the "Siberia" of British India.

The islands were administered as a Chief Commissioner's Province.

The British continued their occupancy until the Japanese Invasion
and Occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II .

Indian control

The islands were nominally put under the authority
of the Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
Netaji visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as
"Shaheed" (Martyr) & "Swaraj" (Self-rule). General Loganathan, of
the Indian National Army was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. On22 February,1944 he along with four INA. officers-Major
Mansoor Ali Alvi, Sub.Lt.Md. Iqbal, Lt.Suba Singh and stenographer
Srinivasan arrived at Lambaline airport of Port Blair.On 21
March,1944 the Headquarters of the Civil A dministration was
established near Gurudwara at Aberdeen Bazar.On 2 October,1944,
Col.Logonathan handed over the charge to Maj. Alvi and left Port
Blair for good.(Ref. "Black Days in Andaman and Nicobar Islands" by
Rabin Roychowdhury,Pub.Manas Pubs.New Delhi).

It became an Indian union territory (UT) in 1950.

Recent history

On 26 December 2004 the coasts of the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands were devastated by a 10 metre high tsunami following
the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. At least 7,000 people (possibly a
conservative estimate) were believed to have been killed on the
Nicobar and Andaman Islands during the disaster.

While newer settlers of the islands suffered the greatest
casualties from the tsunami, most of the aboriginal people survived
because oral traditions passed down from generations ago warned them
to evacuate from large waves that follow large earthquakes.

Geography

There are over 570 islands in the territory, of which
only some 38 are permanently inhabited. Most of the islands (about
550) are in the Andamans group, 26 of which are inhabited. The
smaller Nicobars are comprised of some 22 main islands (12
inhabited). The Andmans and Nicobars are separated by a channel (the
Ten Degree Channel) some 150 km wide.

The total area of the Andaman Islands is some 6,408 km2;
that of the Nicobar Islands approximately 1,841 km2.

Administration

As a Union Territory, the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands is nominally under the direct control of the Indian Head of
State. In practice, a Lt. Governor is appointed to directly
administer the territory.

The territory is divided into two districts for administrative
purposes. These are the Andaman district and Nicobar district,
responsible for their respective island groups. Each district is
headed by a Deputy Commissioner, in charge of the various local
administrative service departments, assisted by several Assistant
Commissioners and sundry other posts. the districts also have Indian
Administrative Service-appointed post of district collector,
responsible for overseeing revenue collection and some other related
services. In both cases, this post forms part of the Deputy
Commissioners' portfolios, rather than being held by a separate
individual.

In turn, these two districts are further sub-divided into
administrative entities known locally as tehsils, which are
roughly equivalent to local councils or counties. The tehsils are
also grouped into local Sub-Divisions, another administrative level
which primarily serves as a basis for the combining of local
resources. In the case of the Nicobars, the Sub-Divisions and the
tehsils are effectively one and the same."

The name of a people (Tamils) whose home was in
South India. The Ceylon Chronicles (Mhv., Cv., and Dpv., passim)
contain records of invasions of Ceylon by the Damilas, the most
noteworthy being that which was repelled by Dutthagāmani. The Damila
leader on that occasion was Elāra. Other Damilas mentioned by name
in the Mahāvaṃsa are Sena, Gutta, Pulahattha, Vatuka and Niliya.
Large numbers of Damilas settled in Ceylon, chiefly in the north and
east of the Island and, in due course, gained possession of that
part of the country. They were employed as mercenary soldiers by
some of the Sinhalese kings and many were brought as captives (E.g.,
Cv.lxx.230; lxxv.20, 69; lxxviii.76, etc.). The Damila bhāsā is
mentioned among the eighteen non-Aryan languages (E.g., VibhA.388;
it was full of consonants, AA.i.409). In the Akitti Jātaka
(J.iv.238) the Damilarattha is spoken of as including also the
region round Kāvīrapattana, while in the Petavatthu Commentary
(p.133) it is spoken of as part of Dakkhinapātha."

Sri Lankan Tamils also known as
Eelam Tamils,
Ceylonese or Ceylon Tamils and Jaffna Tamils are today a
trans-national minority, and are Tamil people from Sri Lanka. Just like the
Jewish Diaspora, they are found in almost all continents including their
country of origin Sri Lanka. Their origins lie in South India in a cultural
region called as Tamilakam, a region that encompasses both the present day
Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as Sri Lanka. They are of
interest to many Western and Asian decision makers because of their national
aspirations back in Sri Lanka for an independent state called Tamil Eelam
and related activities. It is a community bound by common language, culture
and suffering or memory of it because of repeated pogroms in Sri Lanka since
1958 till the present day. (see Black July.)

Sri Lanka boasts of a
continuous written history of its political aspirations called
Mahavamsa that has become the rallying point for the majority
Sinhalese Buddhists to relegate the minority Sri Lankan Tamils as
the perennial other or foreigner amongst them. This has prompted the
Tamils to look for or manufacture history that can stand up to the
claims made by the Sinhalese. Nevertheless there is attestation of
Tamil presence during the period of Prakrit speaking people’s
colonization of the country and ever since spanning a period of over
2,000 years. Whether Tamil People as a self conscious community were
present prior to this colonization from somewhere in North India is
debatable. It is this colonization that gave birth to the nation of
Sinhalese.

One of the major impetus for the survival of a
community that considered it, Tamil as opposed assimilating with majoritan
Sinhalese happened in the 11 century A.D. with the advent of Jaffna Kingdom.
The survival of Tamil communities or social groups that maintained a Tamil
identity outside this kingdoms borders namely in the eastern province
(Batticaloa) has not being explained fully.

Complete Tamil assimilation of formerly Tamil
speaking communities such as the Karave, Durave, Salagama and Demalagatara
as Sinhalese in the western littoral has been accepted begrudgingly and
belatedly by local historians.

Hence the Sri Lankan Tamils today are descendants of
those who for what ever reason decided to maintain a non Sinhalese identity.
It can be argued that a lot more people of Tamil heritage have become
Sinhalese than remain as Tamils. It is also true that a significant minority
of Sri Lankan Tamils decend from Sinhalese and indigenous Vedda lineages.

Subgroups

Due to the various streams by which Tamils have
either maintained or lost their identity as Tamils in Sri lanka we
can identify 2 major sub groups. One is the Eastern Tamils who live
from Trincomalee down to Kumana. The other major group is the
Northern Tamils. Infact the modern trials and tribulations of the
Sri Lankan Tamils is that of the Northern Tamils. Because it is this
sub group that has articulated a political vision that eventually
lead to the aspirations for separation from Sri Lanka. There was
also group of Tamils known as Negambo Tamils of the Western province
who just recently switched over to Sinhalese identity. Other social
groups or castes who lived further south in the western littoral
have abandoned Tamil identity many generations ago and are
considered to be Sinhalese.

There are other social groups such as the Colombo
Chetty and Bharatakula who although with obvious Tamils roots with Sinhalese
and other admixture for political and sociological purposes do'not consider
them to be either Tamil or Sinhalese.

Ethnic consciousness

Not all the
Tamils living in Sri Lanka referred to as Sri Lankan Tamils(SLT) for
in all the government records and even at the level of group
consciousness there is a distinction made between the Indian Origin
Tamils (IT) of the tea and rubber plantation areas, and the Sri
Lankan Tamils who are the traditional Tamil inhabitants of Sri Lanka
largely confined to the northern and the eastern parts of the
island.

It should be borne in mind that the political
militancy found among the Tamils that characterises the current ethnic
conflict is totally opposed to such a distinction being made, and prefers to
call these Tamils the “ Malaiyakat tamilar” or Tamils of the Mountain
referring to the Hill Country Tamils. Though it is true that the bulk of the
Tamils of Indian descent bought in as plantation laborers by the British are
continuing to live in the estate areas in the central regions of Sri Lanka,
it cannot be denied that a substantial number of them had to leave the
estates and go into the traditional Tamil areas for reasons of safety and
security - a process that started in the sixties increased in the seventies
when the estates were nationalized and in the eighties when there were
ethnic riots. Thus in the Census of 1981 it was officially acknowledged that
the following districts which are predominately Tamil had the following
percentage of Indian Tamils: Vavuniya 19.4% Mullaitivu: 13.9% Mannar:13.2%
Kilinochi est. 15%

The figures since state sponsored Black July 1983
anti Tamil pogrom must be high. What is important is that, due to economic
and socio-political pressures the pace of assimilation of the IT into the
SLT is high. Marriages between IT and SLT Tamils are on the increase and
there is an increasing sense of oneness politically. However, to understand
their group solidarity and cohesiveness, it is important that they are
studied separately.

Tamilnadu Tamils versus Sri Lankan Tamils

Unlike in Tamil Nadu, the Brahmins do
not exercise social control. Though they are ritually the
highest caste, among SLT they do not have the necessary numbers,
social power and authority. Quite often they are employees at
temples with well-defined duties and obligations. Nor do the
Brahmins officiate in all temples; there are non-Brahmin priests
known as Saiva kurukkals, drawn originally from the Vellala
caste as well as Kapuhar, Pandaram and other native priests.

The dominant caste among SLT is the
Vellalas, and except in rare cases they have the social control.

Unlike in Tamil Nadu where the caste
system has an observable caste-tribe continuum (Vanniar, Kallar,
Maravar, Irular) among SLT just like amongst the Sinhalese,
castes are largely occupation based. (See Caste in Sri Lanka)

Among the SLT marriages are largely
matrilocal; among the TnT it is largely patrilocal.

Kinship organisation and sometimes even
the kinship terms are different, for instances, at the
non-brahmin level among the TnT uravinmurai or lineage tradition
is very strong; among the SLT even though they have the pakutior
lineage tradition, it is not strong; it is not sustainable.

In religious practices also there is
considerable difference; there are also considerable differences
in temple management.

Food habits vary much, among the SLT
there is much less use of milk, esp."tayir" and "mor". SLT and
Sinhalese food habbits mimic that of the Malabar region of
Kerala and south Tamil Nadu.

SLT dialects (Jaffna, Negombo and
Batticaloa variety) are different from the major local dialects
of Tamilnadu. But maintain archaic Tamil words that are used
also in Malayalam a langauge used in Kerala as well Tamil
dialects used in southern Kanyakumari district of Tamil nadu.

The SLT literary culture too has been
very different. In creative critical writings, SLT literary
culture, responding to local needs and aspirations, has been
able to carve out a distinct idiom of expression.

Population figures

The following
are the population figurers of the SLT in the various districts of
the North and East, for 1981.

Even
before the advent of ethnic conflicts and civil war in Sri Lanka,
Sri Lankan Tamils especially those from Jaffna have been migrating
to Malaysia, Singapore and Europe. Hence there is a large expatriate
community in these countries that are well integrated and prosperous
unlike in Sri Lanka. Lack of integration with the Sri Lankan
mainstream community has been noted as a failure of the community by
many commentators. But the Sri Lankan Tamils total integration in
Singapore and Malaysia shows that internal political climate in Sri
lanka as the real culprit not the community itself. Especially in
Singapore, many politicians both ruling and opposition have hailed
from this community. Because of the open and accepting conditions
found by the community in the West and South East Asia, many
prominent Sri Lankan Tamils of the 21st century are not from Sri
Lanka.

Due the effects of civil war many aspects of
spiritual, social and religious mode of life, even the personal has been
adversely affected. Over 64,000 people have been killed or gone missing
since Black July of 1983, vast majority of them civilians. Countless number
of personal property, businesses and places of worship have been destroyed.
Many Sri Lankan Tamil families are affected via a murder, rape, missing or
detention of a loved one. Many have left these deprivations by emigrating to
India, Europe and North America. Countless number of them are internally
displaced. There are more displaced Tamils in Colombo today than Jaffna. In
Canada alone there are over 250,000 Sri Lankan Tamils congregated in Ontario
province. All this must have profound effect on the Sri Lankan Tamil society
viability and future in Sri Lanka.

But the community aboard particularly in the West is
prospering and integrating with the host community just like their
predecessors did in Malaysia and Singapore a few generations ago. In the
2004 Canadian general elections 2 members of the federal parliament were
nominated from this community. "

"45. With his
Buddha-eye, the highest in the world looked over the universe; the
stainless Teacher (then) saw the most excellent Lankādīpa. 46. At
that time the ground of Lankā was covered with great forests and
full of horrors; frightful, cruel, blood-thirsty Yakkhas of various
kinds, — 47. and savage, furious, pernicious Pisācas of various
shapes and full of various (wicked) thoughts, all had assembled
together. 48. „I shall go there, in their midst; I shall dispel the
Rakkhasas and put away the Pisācas; men shall be masters (of the
island)."

49. Having considered this matter full of compassion, the great hero
rose into the air and came hither from Jambudīpa. 50. In the midst
of the assembly of Yakkhas, above their heads, he was seen, standing
in the air, holding bis seat (in his hands). 51. The assembled hosts
of Yakkhas saw the Sambuddha standing there, but they did not think
that he was the Buddha; they supposed him to be another Yakkha. 52.
On the bank of the river, near Mahiya Pokkhala, on the site of the
Subhangana Thūpa, there the highest of men stood, and entered upon
the highest ecstatic meditation. 53. The Sage, the awakener of quick
attention, speedily entered upon that meditation (by revolving) in a
moment by one thought (the whole system of qualities). Suddenly he
thence rose; he who had reached (all) perfections by his virtuous
resolutions, ... finished his meditation. 54. There the hero stood,
performing miracles by his (magical) power, like a Yakkha of high
(magical) power and great (supernatural) faculties; gathering (?)
thick clouds, containing thousands of rain drops, he sent rain, cold
winds, and darkness. 55. (He then spoke to the Yakkhas:) „I will
send you heat; give unto me a place where I may sit down. I possess
such power over the fire as will dispel these dangers." 56. (The
Yakkhas replied: „If thou art able to dispel them, sit down
whereever thou likest; we all consent; show thy power over the
fire." 57. (Buddha replied:) „You all ask me for warmth; I shall
quickly produce the great heat which you are desiring, a fierce,
burning fire." 58. As the sun shines in summer at noon, so fearful
heat penetrated the assembly of Yakkhas. 59. Like the heat spread by
the four suns at the end of a Kappa, such and greater still was the
glow sent forth by the seat of the Teacher. 60. As the rising sun
cannot be restrained in the sky, thus (Buddha's) carpet of skin
cannot be restrained in the air. 61. The carpet diffused great heat,
like the fire at the end of the Kappa, as the sun (scorches) the
earth, or like a great flame of fire. 62. Diffusing heat like a heap
of burning coals, the carpet appeared similar to a cloud, or to a
glowing iron mountain. 63. It spread insupportable heat over the
islands. The Yakkhas quickly fled in all ten directions, to the
east, the west, the south, the north, above, and beneath. 64.
„Whither shall we go for safety and refuge? How shall we be released
from this fearful being? 65. If this powerful Yakkha assumes the
form of the fiery element, and burns us, all of us Yakkhas will
perish like a handful of chaff, like dust blown away by the wind."
66. And Buddha, the chief among Sages, the bringer of happiness, the
compassionate, merciful great Sage, when he saw the afflicted,
frightened Yakkhas, thought how to administer joy to the minds of
these non-human beings. 67. (He) then (thought of) another island,
similar to this, with low ground and high ground, with many various
aspects, beautifully adorned by rivers, mountains, and lakes, the
island of Giri, most similar to the country of Lankā. 68. (It was)
free from danger, well protected, surrounded by the ocean, full of
excellent food and rich grain, with a well tempered climate, a
green, grassy land, the beautiful island of Giri, superior to this
(island). 69. It was charming and delightful, green and cool,
adorned by gardens and forests, exquisite; there were trees, full of
blossoms and fruits; it was empty and solitary, subject to no
master. 70. (It was situated) in the great sea, in the midst of the
ocean and of the deep waters, where the waves incessantly break;
around it there was a chain of mountains, towering, difficult to
pass; to enter it against the wish (of the inhabitants) was
difficult. 71. Full of desire and anger towards other beings,
backbiting, pitiless, given to injuring other beings, cruel and
furious, violent, merciless,... 72. (Buddha thus spoke:) „Ye
Rakkhasas and ye wicked hosts of Yakkhas, I give unto you this
island which is not far from Lankā, the whole old island of Giri;
may they all inhabit it and multiply undisturbed. 73. This country
of Lankā is a residence inhabited by men since remote Kappas; may
many men dwell in the country of Lankā, as they did in former times
in the Oja, Vara, and Manda island. 74. Adorned with these and other
good qualities, a residence fit for men, auspicious in many ways, it
will shine among the islands, when the Doctrine will have been
brought there, like the full moon in the sky at the time of
Uposatha." 75. Weighing the prosperity and the high happiness of the
two, the Sage who knew all worlds, interchanged the two islands and
the two (kinds of beings), men and Rakkhasas, (as a peasant) easily
(interchanges) his pairs of bullocks. 76. Gotama by his (magical)
power drew the island towards himself, like the headstalls of
bullocks which are drawn (towards the driver) with a strong rope.
The Sage drew together one island towards the other, like two ships
which are surrounded by stout ropes. 77. Having joined the beautiful
island to the other, the Tathāgata transported (?) the Rakkhasas,
(saying:) „May all Rakkhasas dwell in Giridīpa ..." 78. The eager
Yakkhas ran to Giridīpa, like thirsty people in summer to a river;
they all entered it never to return; the Sage (then) restored the
island to its former place. 79. The highly satisfied Yakkhas and the
highly pleased Rakkhasas, having received this excellent island
which they desired, all began to laugh with great joy, and all went
to celebrate the festival called Nakkhattamaha. 80. When Buddha saw
that joy had been restored to these non-human beings, he the Jina,
having exerted his benevolence towards them, pronounced the spell of
protection. Having walked three times round the island, for the sake
of its ever-lasting protection and the expulsion of the Yakkha
hosts, — 81. having comforted the Pisācas and (other) non-human
beings, having established a guard and restored a lasting peace,
having put down all distress in the island, the Tathāgata returned
to Uruvela.

"Jetavana. - A park in Sāvatthi,
in which was built the Anāthapindikārāma. When the Buddha
accepted Anāthapindika's invitation to visit Sāvatthi the
latter, seeking a suitable place for the Buddha's residence,
discovered this park belonging to Jetakumāra. When he asked to
be allowed to buy it, Jeta's reply was: "Not even if you could
cover the whole place with money." Anāthapindika said that he
would buy it at that price, and when Jeta answered that he had
had no intention of making a bargain, the matter was taken
before the Lords of Justice, who decided that if the price
mentioned were paid, Anāthapindika had the right of purchase.
Anāthapindika had gold brought down in carts and covered
Jetavana with pieces laid side by side. The money brought in the
first journey was found insufficient to cover one small spot
near the gateway. So Anāthapindika sent his servants back for
more, but Jeta, inspired by Anāthapindika's earnestness, asked
to be allowed to give this spot. Anāthapindika agreed and Jeta
erected there a gateway, with a room over it. Anāthapindika
built in the grounds dwelling rooms, retiring rooms, store rooms
and service halls, halls with fireplaces, closets, cloisters,
halls for exercise, wells, bathrooms, ponds, open and roofed
sheds, etc.

It is said that Anāthapindika paid
eighteen crores for the purchase of the site, all of which Jeta
spent in the construction of the gateway gifted by him.

Jeta gave, besides, many valuable trees
for timber. Anāthapindika himself spent fifty-four crores in
connection with the purchase of the park and the buildings
erected in it.

The ceremony of dedication was one of
great splendour. Not only Anāthapindika himself, but his whole
family took part: his son with five hundred other youths, his
wife with five hundred other noble women, and his daughters Mahā
Subhaddā and Cūla Subhaddā with five hundred other maidens.
Anāthapindika was attended by five hundred bankers. The
festivities in connection with the dedication lasted for nine
months.

Some of the chief buildings attached to
the Jetavana are mentioned in the books by special names, viz.,
Mahāgandhakuti, Kaverimandalamāla, Kosambakuti and Candanamāla.
Other buildings are also mentioned - e.g., the
Ambalakotthaka-āsanasālā.

All these were built by Anāthapindika;
there was another large building erected by Pasenadi and called
the Salalaghara. Over the gateway lived a guardian deity to
prevent all evildoers from entering. Just outside the monastery
was a rājayatana-tree, the residence of the god Samiddhisumana.

In the grounds there seems to have been a
large pond which came to be called the Jetavanapokkharanī.

The grounds themselves were thickly
covered with trees, giving the appearance of a wooded grove
(arañña). On the outskirts of the monastery was a mango-grove.
In front of the gateway was the Bodhi-tree planted by
Anāthapindika, which came later to be called the Anandabodhi
(q.v.). Not far from the gateway was a cave which became famous
as the Kapallapūvapabbhāra on account of an incident connected
with Macchariya-Kosiya.

Near Jetavana was evidently a monastery
of the heretics where Ciñcāmānavikā spent her nights while
hatching her conspiracy against the Buddha.

There seems to have been a playground
just outside Jetavana used by the children of the neighbourhood,
who, when thirsty, would go into Jetavana to drink. The high
road to Sāvatthi passed by the edge of Jetavana, and travellers
would enter the park to rest and refresh themselves.

According to the Divyāvadāna, the thūpas
of Sāriputta and Moggallāna were in the grounds of Jetavana and
existed until the time of Asoka. Both Fa Hien and Houien Thsang
give descriptions of other incidents connected with the Buddha,
which took place in the neighbourhood of Jetavana - e.g., the
murder of Sundarikā, the calumny of Ciñcā, Devadatta's attempt
to poison the Buddha, etc.

The space covered by the four bedposts of
the Buddha's Gandhakuti in Jetavana is one of the four
avijahitatthānāni; all Buddhas possess the same, though the size
of the actual vihāra differs in the case of the various Buddhas.
For Vipassī Buddha, the setthi Punabbasumitta built a monastery
extending for a whole league, while for Sikhī, the setthi
Sirivaddha made one covering three gavutas. The Sanghārāma built
by Sotthiya for Vessabhū was half a league in extent, while that
erected by Accuta for Kakusandha covered only one gāvuta.
Konagamana's monastery, built by the setthi Ugga, extended for
half a gāvuta, while Kassapa's built by Sumangala covered
sixteen karīsas. Anāthapindika's monastery covered a space of
eighteen karīsas.

The Buddha spent nineteen rainy seasons
in Jetavana (DhA.i.3; BuA.3; AA.i.314). It is said that after
the Migāramātupāsāda came into being, the Buddha would dwell
alternately in Jetavana and Migāramātupāsāda, often spending the
day in one and the night in the other (SNA.i.336).

According to a description given by Fa
Hien, the vihāra was originally in seven sections (storeys?) and
was filled with all kinds of offerings, embroidered banners,
canopies, etc., and the lamps burnt from dusk to dawn.

One day a rat, holding in its mouth a
lamp wick, set fire to the banners and canopies, and all the
seven sections were entirely destroyed. The vihāra was later
rebuilt in two sections. There were two main entrances, one on
the east, one on the west, and Fa Hsien found thūpas erected at
all the places connected with the Buddha, each with its name
inscribed.

The vihāra is almost always referred to
as Jetavane Anāthapindikassa Ārāma. The Commentaries say that
this was deliberate.

In the district of Saheth-Maheth, with
which the region of Sāvatthi is identified, Saheth is considered
to be Jetavana."

"Nāgā

A class of beings classed with Garuḷas and
Supannas and playing a prominent part in Buddhist folk lore. They
are gifted with miraculous powers and great strength. Generally
speaking, they are confused with snakes, chiefly the hooded Cobra,
and their bodies are described as being those of snakes, though they
can assume human form at will. They are broadly divided into two
classes: those that live on land (thalaja) and those that live on
water (jalaja). The Jalaja-nāgā live in rivers as well as in the
sea, while the Thalaja-nāgā are regarded as living beneath the
surface of the earth. Several Nāga dwellings are mentioned in the
books: e.g.,

Mañjerika-bhavana under Sineru,

Daddara-bhavana at the foot of Mount
Daddara in the Himālaya,

the Dhatarattha-nāgā under the river
Yamunā,

the Nābhāsā Nāgā in Lake Nabhasa,

and also the Nāgas of Vesāli, Tacchaka,
and Payāga (D.ii.258).

The Vinaya (ii.109) contains a list of four
royal families of Nāgas (Ahirājakulāni): Virūpakkhā, Erāpathā,
Chabyāputtā and Kanhagotamakā. Two other Nāga tribes are generally
mentioned together: the Kambalas and the Assataras. It is said
(SA.iii.120) that all Nāgas have their young in the Himālaya.

Stories are given - e.g., in the Bhūridatta
Jātaka - of Nāgas, both male and female, mating with humans; but the
offspring of such unions are watery and delicate (J.vi.160). The
Nāgas are easily angered and passionate, their breath is poisonous,
and their glance can be deadly (J.vi.160, 164). They are carnivorous
(J.iii.361), their diet consisting chiefly of frogs (J.vi.169), and
they sleep, when in the world of men, on ant hills (ibid., 170). The
enmity between the Nāgas and the Garulas is proverbial (D.ii.258).
At first the Garulas did not know how to seize the Nāgas, because
the latter swallowed large stones so as to be of great weight, but
they learnt how in the Pandara Jātaka. The Nāgas dance when music is
played, but it is said (J.vi.191) that they never dance if any
Garula is near (through fear) or in the presence of human dancers
(through shame).

The best known of all Nāgas is Mahākāla, king
of Mañjerika-bhavana. He lives for a whole kappa, and is a very
pious follower of the Buddha. The Nāgas of his world had the
custodianship of a part of the Buddha's relics till they were needed
for the Māha Thūpa (Mhv.xxxi.27f.), and when the Bodhi tree was
being brought to Ceylon they did it great honour during the voyage
(Mbv. p.. 163f.). Other Nāga kings are also mentioned as ruling with
great power and majesty and being converted to the Buddha's faith -
e.g., Aravāla, Apalālā, Erapatta, Nandopananda, and Pannaka. (See
also Ahicchatta and Ahināga.) In the Atānātiya Sutta (D.iii.198f.),
speaking of dwellers of the Cātummahārajika world, the Nāgas are
mentioned as occupying the Western Quarter, with Virūpokkha as their
king.

The Nāgas had two chief settlements in
Ceylon, in Nāgadīpa (q.v.) and at the mouth of the river Kalyānī. It
was to settle a dispute between two Nāga chiefs of Nāgadīpa,
Mahodara and Cūlodara, that the Buddha paid his second visit to
Ceylon. During that visit he made a promise to another Nāga-king,
Manjakkhika of Kalyānī, to pay him a visit, and the Buddha's third
visit was in fulfilment of that undertaking (Mhv.i.48f.).

The Nāgas form one of the guards set up by
Sakka in Sineru against the Asuras (J.i.204). The Nāgas were
sometimes worshipped by human beings and were offered sacrifices of
milk, rice, fish, meat and strong drink (J.i.497f.). The jewel of
the Nāgas is famous for its beauty and its power of conferring
wishes to its possessor (J.vi.179, 180).

The word Nāga is often used as an epithet of
the Buddha and the Arahants, and in this connection the etymology
given is āgum na karotī ti Nāgo (e.g., MNid.201). The Bodhisatta was
born several times as king of the Nāgas: Atula, Campeyya,
Bhūridatta, Mahādaddara, and Sankhapāla.

In the accounts given of the Nāgas, there is
undoubtedly great confusion between the Nāgas as supernatural
beings, as snakes, and as the name of certain non Aryan tribes, but
the confusion is too difficult to unravel."

"Chaitra (Hindi: चैतcait or चैत्रcaitr) is a month of the
Hindu calendar. In
India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year,
beginning on 22 March (or 21 March in leap years) and ending on 20 April.
It is also the last month in the Bengali calendar (the
Bônggabdo [বঙ্গাব্দ]), where it is called Choitro, and in the Nepalese calendar
(the
Bikram Sambat), where it ends on April 13.

In lunar religious calendars,
Chaitra may begin on either the new moon or the full moon around the
same time of year, and is usually the first month of the year. The
first of Chaitra – North Indian New Year, or Gudi Padwa – is an
important
festival, as is Ram Navami (9 Chaitra), the birthday of Lord Ram.

In solar religious calendars, Chaitra begins with the Sun's entry
into Pisces, and is usually the last month of the year."

An evergreen tree with a straight, cylindrical trunk up to 15 m in
height, commonly found throughout the greater part of India in dry
deciduous forests, up to an altitude of 1,200 m, and in the
sub-Himalayan tract up to 900 m. Branches tomentose when young; bark
rough; leaves thickly coriaceous, broadly oblong, obtuse, base
rounded; flowers small, greenish white, in axillary and terminal
panicles; drupes ovoid or globose, black, 8-12 mm in diam; stones
hard.

The tree is a common associate in sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.f.)
forests and occupies the lower canopy. It is a moderate
light-demander, somewhat sensitive to drought and very sensitive to
frost. In its natural habitat, the absolute maximum
shade-temperature ranges between 40 and 60°, the absolute minimum
between - 1 and 13°, and the annual precipitation between 75 and 215
cm. It is often found in abundance on clayey and laterite soils, but
does not grow on waterlogged soils. It is useful for clothing the
dry hillsides, and is valued for the rapidity with which it covers
bare arid slopes. The tree serves as a host for the Kusumi strain of
lac-insect. The settlement of larvae on the twigs is reported to be
uniform, and good. The formation of lac is in continuous
encrustations with well-developed lac cells (Khan, Indian For, 1953,
79, 184; Troup, I, 240; Bor, 266; Purkay-astha & Krishnaswami,
CurrSci, 1961, 30, 152).

The tree flowers during Jan-March, and the fruits ripen during
April-June. The seeds, lying on the ground exposed to the sun, have
a very low germination potential. However, fresh seeds have been
found to have a fertility of c70 per cent. The tree can be raised by
direct sowing of seeds (Troup, I, 240; Krishnaswamy, 1956, 71).

The wood and bark are attacked by various borers. The larvae of
Lycaenesthes lycaenina lycaenina Fel-der bore the floral buds
[Bhasin et al, Indian For Bull, NS, Entomol, No. 171(2), 1956,40].

The wood is light grey to greyish brown, sometimes with a light
yellow cast; heartwood dark brown and rather lustrous when first
exposed. The wood is light (wt, 577 kg/m3), strong, even and
straight-grained, and coarse-textured. It seasons easily and is
fairly durable if kept dry and free from white ants. The data for
the comparative suitability of timber, expressed as percentages of
the same properties of teak, are : wt, 73; strength as a beam, 50;
stiffness as a beam, 59; suitability as a post, 48; shock-resisting
ability, 49; retention of shape, 72; shear, 66; surface-hardness,
35; and nail- or screw-holding property, 77. The wood is utilized as
small beams to support light roofing and rafters, in mining, for
making doors and window-frames, bedsteads, boxes and yokes, and
making cheap furniture. It is suitable for matches. It is a medium
fuelwood (calorific val: sapwood- 4,446 cals; heartwood- 4,612 cals)
[Pearson & Brown, I, 327; Rawat & Rawat, Indian For Rec, N S, Timb
Mech, 1960, 1(12), 185; Sekhar & Gulati, ibid,1969, 2(1), 26;
Krishna & Ramaswami, Indian For Bull, N S,Chem, No. 79,1932,13J.

The stem exudes a pale or dark-coloured gum which occurs in large,
clear and vitreous tears. The gum is partially soluble, and is
suitable for dressing textiles. It is also used in diarrhoea and
intercostal pains. In Andhra Pradesh, the gum, dissolved in cow's
milk, is used internally in rheumatic pains. The bark, in dried
condition, is in the form of channelled pieces of varying sizes.
Below the exfoliated cork, it appears reddish brown, fairly smooth
with fibrous surface; its powder is buff to brown in colour. It
possesses slightly pungent odour and astringent taste, and contains:
ash, 2.25; and tannins, 13.40%. The presence of alkaloids, reducing
sugars and saponins is also reported. The bark furnishes a natural
varnish and is used in tanning in Kerala. It yields a dark reddish
brown leather of somewhat stiff and harsh texture (Howes, 1949, 57;
Howes, 1953, 273; Bhatta-charjee & Das, Econ Bot, 1969, 23, 274;
Rama Rao, 99; Kirtikar & Basu, I, 661; Mitra & Mehrotra, Herba hung,
1981, 20, 17; Hemadri, Ancient Sci Life, 1981-82, 1,117; Chopra
etal, 1958,498).

The leaves are reported to be valued for their tonic and cardiotonic
properties, and their powder is a common medicine for wounds. They
contain : ash, 13.14; total crude tannins (gallo-tannins, 0.35),
2.64%. The presence of triterpenoids, saponins, reducing sugars and
flavonoids is also reported. The leaves are used as a fodder for
cattle, sheep and goats 'Mehrotra & Mitra, Bull med-ethno-bot Res,
1980, 1. 338; Malhotra & Moorthy, Bull bot Surv India, 1973, 15, 13;
Sundararaj & Balasubramanyam, 46).

B. axillaris (Desr.) Ramam. syn. B. angustifolia
Roxb. [Buchanans Mango, Cuddapah Almond; Hindi—Piyala;
Kan.—Murligidda; Mai. — Chaara par-uppu; Tarn.—Mudamaah,
saraparuppu; Te\.—Pedda sara, saarappappu (seeds)] is a stout,
straight-stemmed, glabrous tree, 6 m in height and 60-90 cm in
girth, commonly found in open scrub and dry deciduous forests of
peninsular India. The kernels of the seeds are reported to be the
best among the species, and are largely collected and eaten. The
species has uses similar to those of B. lanzan. Besides, an oil,
from cut bark, is used as an illuminant and in varnish. The timber
is similar in structure to that of B. lanzan, but is not durable and
is susceptible to insect-attack. It is used for construction of
temporary sheds, yokes and sometimes in planking. It is suitable for
making packing-cases. An ethanolic extract (50%) of the aerial part
showed CNS depressant activity in mice (Fl Hassan, 374; Rama Rao,
99; Sundararaj & Balasubramanyam, 46; Fl Madras, I, 184; Pearson &
Brown, I, 328; Hemadri, loc. cit.; Dhawan et al, Indian J exp Biol,
1980, 18, 594)."

"1. Again, the
holy, glorious Sambuddha (once) dwelt near the most excellent
capital of Kosala, in the garden of Sudatta (Anāthapindika). 2. In
this Jetavana garden Buddha, the light-giving king of the Truth,
looking all over the world, saw beautiful Tambapanni. 3. When five
years had elapsed (after he had attained Buddhahood), he went to the
country of Tambapanni. By dispelling the Avaruddhaka (demons) he
(once) himself had made the island empty. 4. (But) now the mountain
serpents and the sea serpents fought a battle in the island, having
arranged their arrays on both sides, an awful struggle. 5. All those
Nāgas possessed great (magical) powers, all were frightfully
venomous, all were wicked and violent, furious and filled with
desire. 6. The Serpents were quick and excessively powerful,
corrupt, cruel, and harsh, hasty, given to anger, longing for
destruction (?). 7. Powerful Mahodara and resplendent Culodara, both
were valiant, both had an exceedingly brilliant appearance. 8. No
one saw a way how peaceably to compose that struggle (?). Mahodara
whose fierceness was furiously excited by pride, was destroying the
island with its mountains and its forests: „I will kill all hostile
serpents." 9. Culodara, filled with pride, roared: „May thousand
kotis of Nāgas approach; I will slay all them who dare to enter the
battle; I will change the island, all its hundred yojanas, into one
desert." 10. The Serpents whose venomous fury could not be
restrained, who possessed high (magical) powers, raged and sent
forth flames (sent forth smoke and flames?); the Serpent kings,
infatuated with anger, incited them to destroy the foes (who opposed
them) in the battle.

11. Buddha, the blessed wanderer through the world, when he
perceived the anger of the Serpent kings, (and saw) that the island
was being destroyed, thought, in order to prevent this, many kind
thoughts, for the sake of the highest bliss of (men) and gods. 12.
(He thus reflected:) „If I do not go (to Lankā), the Serpents will
not become happy; the island will be destroyed, and there will be no
welfare in future time. 13. Out of compassion for the Nāgas, for the
sake of happiness (of men) I shall go there; may the happiness of
the island prosper (?). 14. I perceive the excellent qualities of
Lankādīpa; the Serpents shall not destroy the island from which I
formerly have driven out the Yakkhas, and to which I have done
good." 15. Speaking thus the Sambuddha rose from his seat; he who
possessed the gift of (supernatural) vision, left the Gandhakuti,
and stood in the door (of the Jetavana garden). 16. All the gods who
resided in the trees of the Jetavana garden, offered their services
to him: „Let us go (with thee, o Sage who art) possessed of
(supernatural) vision." 17. (Buddha replied:) „Nay, remain ye all,
Samiddhi alone may go (with me)." (Samiddhi) went, taking up the
tree (where his residence was,) and holding it from behind (over
Buddha's head). 18. Samiddhi, when he heard what Buddha had said,
was delighted; he took up the tree, roots and all, and followed the
Tathāgata. 19. The highly powerful king of gods gave shade to the
Sambuddha, the highest among men, and held (the tree) from behind
over the most excellent Buddha. 20. The highest of men went to the
place where the Nāgas fought their battle; the merciful Teacher
(there) stood in the middle of both noble Nāgas. 21. Going through
the air over the heads of both Nāgas, the Sambuddha, the chief of
the world, produced a deep, terrifying darkness. 22. There arose a
thick darkness, caused by the great (magical) power of the lion
(among men); he was covered and veiled (?) by the darkness, and the
tree too (?). 23. The frightened, terrifyed Nāgas did not see each
other, nor did they see the Jina (?), (or) to what side they should
direct their attacks. 24. They all forsook the battle, threw down
their weapons, and stood all with clasped hands, paying reverence to
the Sambuddha. 25. When (Buddha) perceived that they were struck
with horror, when, he saw that the Nāgas were terrifyed, he sent
forth his thoughts of kindness towards them, and emitted a warm ray
of light. 26. A great sight it was, astonishing and terrifying; they
all saw the Sambuddha like the bright moon in the sky. 27. Standing
there, resplendent with all the six colours, shining in the air,
illuminating the ten regions (of the world), he thus addressed the
Nāgas: 28. „From what cause, o great king, did this contention among
the Nāgas arise? Out of compassion towards yourself I have come
speedily hither." 29. (They replied:) „This Nāga Culodara and that
Nāga Mahodara, the maternal uncle and the nephew, are quarrelling
with each other, desirous of treasure." 30. The Sambuddha addressed
a speech full of compassion to the savage Nāgas: „ Anger which
arises in the mind of the fool, begins small, and grows great. 31.
For what reason do you undergo, all these many Nāgas, great
suffering? Destroy that small throne, but do not destroy each other.
Destroying one the other you are going to cause an unheard of
destruction of life." 32. Then he who possessed the gift of
(supernatural) vision, agitated the Nāgas by (the description of)
the sufferings in hell; he unfolded to them the (laws of) birth in
the worlds of men and devas, and the nature of Nibbāna. 33. As the
Sambuddha, the highest of men, thus preached the true doctrine, all
the Nāgas, casting themselves down, propitiated the Tathāgata. 34.
All the Nagas (then) came together, the Serpents reconciled
themselves to each other, and all took their refuge (in Buddha),
eighty kotis of living beings. 35. (Thus they spoke:) „We might
perish, all we Nāgas, on account of this throne." 36. The two Nāga
(kings), for the sake of restoring peace, took that most excellent
throne (and thus spoke to Buddha:) „Accept this throne out of
compassion, (o Sage who art) gifted with (supernatural) vision." 37.
The Sambuddha who possessed the gift of (supernatural) vision,
accepted it by remaining silent. When they understood that he had
accepted it, the two great Serpents were delighted. 38. (They thus
addressed Buddha:) „May the blessed One sit down on this splendid,
noble Veluriya throne which the Nāgas were longing for." 39. The
Nāgas placed that throne in the midst of the two islands. There, on
that throne, the light-giving king of the Truth sat down. 40. When
those eighty kotis of Nāgas had propitiated the Sambuddha, the Nāgas
there served to him a meal, food and drink. 41. When he had removed
his hands from the bowl, the eighty kotis of Nāgas, surrounding him,
sat down near the supreme Buddha."

42. At the mouth of the Kalyāni river there lived a Nāga together
with his children and with a great retinue of Nagas; his name was
Maniakkhika. 43. (He was) full of faith, and had taken his refuge
(in Buddha), a true and righteous' believer. When he came to that
assembly of Nāgas, his faith still increased. 44. When this Naga
perceived the Buddha's power, his compassion, and the fear of the
Serpents (?), he bowed to him, sat down, and thus entreated the
Tathāgata: 45. „Out of compassion to this island thou hast first
dispelled the Yakkhas; this kindness towards the Nāgas is thy second
act of compassion towards the Island. 46. May the holy, great Sage
show his compassion still another time; I shall attend and do
service to thee." 47. Having heard what the Nāga said, Buddha, full
of compassion for created beings, the blessed One, accepted (his
invitation,) for showing kindness to Lankādīpa. 48. Having sat on
the throne, the light-giver arose; the Sage then rested during the
midday time in the interior of the island. 49. In the interior of
the island the supreme light spent the day; he who possessed the
gift of (supernatural) vision, entered upon the Brahma-vihāra
meditation. 50. At evening time the Jina thus spoke to the Nāgas:
„Let the throne remain there; may the Khirapala tree1)
station itself here. Worship, o Nāgas, all of you this tree and the
throne." 51. Having spoken thus, and preached to the Serpents, and
given them that sacred object used by (himself), the Sambuddha
returned to the Jetavana.

Here ends the conquering of the Nāgas.

1) This is tbe tree which the god Samiddhi bad taken to
the island; see v. 17 et sq."

"52. Again, in the
eighth year (after Buddha had reached Sambodhi), the Nāga king
Maniakkhika invited the great hero together with five hundred
Bhikkhus. 53. (These Bhikkhus) whose senses were subdued, who
possessed the high (magical) powers, surrounded the Sambuddha; the
Sage rose up into the air in the Jetavana, and proceeding through
the air, he came to Lankā, to the mouth of the Kalyāni river. 54.
All the Serpents constructed a pavilion of precious stones on the
ground, and covered it with garments of different colours, with
divine clothes. 55. (There were) ornaments of various precious
stones, various blossoms of many descriptions, many flags of various
colours; the pavilion was adorned in many ways. 56. They spread
(cloth over the) entire (floor) and prepared seats; (then) they
introduced the Fraternity with Buddha at its head, and invited them
to sit down. 57. Sitting down together with five hundred Bhikkhus,
the Sambuddha entered upon ecstatic meditations; he diffused (the
rays of) his kindness to all quarters (of the horizon). 58. Seven
times Buddha together with his pupils attained mystical trance; at
that place (subsequently) the Mahā-thāpa was built, the most
excellent Cetiya. 59. The Nāga king Maniakkhika distributed a great
donation (to the Bhikkhus). Having accepted the donation of that
Nāga, having taken food, and gladdened (the Nāgas by preaching to
them,) the Sambuddha together with his pupils rose up into the air.
60. At the place of the Dīghavāpi Cetiya, Buddha, he who was full of
compassion to the world, descended from the air and again entered
upon mystical meditation. 61. Having arisen from the trance at that
place, the light-giving king of the Truth together with his pupils,
wandering through the air, then proceeded to the place where the Bo
tree was to be stationed in the Mahāmeghavana garden. 62. The Bo
trees of three former Buddhas (there also) had been established on
the ground; to that place he went, and there he entered upon
meditation. 63. (He thus prophesied:) „Three Bo trees (have stood)
at this place, at (the time of) the teaching of three Buddhas; my Bo
tree also will stand on this very spot in future time." 64. The
highest being, the chief of men, having arisen from that meditation
together with his pupils, went to the delightful Meghavana garden.
65. There also he plunged himself in meditation together with his
pupils. Having arisen from that meditation, the light-giver
proclaimed: 66. „This place first Kakusandha, the chief of the
world, has accepted, sitting down on this spot where a throne has
been erected. 67. This place secondly Konāgamana, the chief of men,
has .... 68. This place thirdly Kassapa, the chief of the world, has
... 69. Myself, Sambuddha Gotama, the descendant of the Sākya tribe,
the chief of men, have attained (trance), seated on this spot, where
a throne is to be erected.""

«The Vice-Chancellor of the Vidyalankara
Buddhist University of Ceylon. Pandit Kiriwattuduwe Sri Pragnasara Nayaka
Thera, said that Dr. Paranavitana's statement could be classified either as
childish or humorous talk. Buddhist should not, therefore, be perturbed.»

«The Vice-Chancellor gave several
instances to prove that the Buddha visited Ceylon. Anyone who bad read the
Tripitaka, Mahawamsa and the Deepawamsa would not take Dr. Paranavitana's
statement seriously, he said.»

«He added that Buddhists all over the
world and even non-Buddhists believe that Lord Buddha visited Ceylon at
least three times. He said he felt sorry that an eminent scholar like Dr.
Paranavitana should have made such a statement.»

«'Senarath Paranavitana, world renowned
retired Archaeological Commissioner, appears to have been bought over by the
Catholic Church and hence his theory that Lord Buddha did not visit Ceylon`,
said Ven. Nagoda Punnyananda Adikarana Sangha Nayaka Thera, Principal of
Ananda Pirivena, Kitulampitiya, Galle.»

«He said that this utterance was so grave
that if he happened to be ViceChancellor of either Vidyodaya University or
Vidyalankara University and if Dr. Paranavitana happened to be a lecturer in
one of them, he would have dismissed him from service immediately an this
ground.»

«lt was a grave injustice, he said, to put
forward new theories to disprove what was recorded in books and what has
been accepted wholeheartedly by the Buddhist world to be true.»

«Pundit Henegama Sugathananda Thera,
principal of Narawila Abayaraja Pirrivena said that if Dr. Paranavitana had
nothing new to report, he should not have made such a pronouncement and try
disprove historical facts. He should not be pardoned for his irresponsible
utterance.»

"These visits [of Buddha to Ceylon], as
noted above, are recorded only in the Dīpavamsa, Samanta-pāsādikā and the
Mahāvaṃsa. No mention is made of them in any part of the Pali Canon. This
negative evidence, though a weighty one, is not sufficient for us to arrive
at a decision and deny the truth of this tradition. This tradition may
probably have arisen from the arrival, before the advent of Mahinda, of some
Buddhist missionaries from India and also from the existence in Ceylon of a
considerable number of Buddhists among the earlier inhabitants, namely, the
Yakkhas and the Nāgas.

To support this hypothesis there is
another valuable reference in the Mahāvaṃsa. The Mahiyaṅgaṇa thūpa, says the
Great Chronicle, existed in Ceylon long before the arrival of Mahinda. When
the Buddha first visited Ceylon, the deva Mahasumana of the Sumanakūta
Mountain requested the Buddha to give him something to worship. The Master
took a handful of hairs from his head and gave it to the deva. The latter
enshrined it respectfully in a thūpa which he built at the place where the
Master had sat. After the passing away of the Buddha, the thera Sarabhū, a
disciple of the thera Sāriputta, brought the collar-bone of the Buddha and
deposited it in the same thūpa. Later Uddhacūlābhaya, the son of king
Devānampiya-tissa's brother, saw the wondrous cetiya and covered it over
afresh and made it thirty cubits high. Still later, king Dutthagāmani,
dwelling there while he made war upon the Damilas, built a mantle cetiya
over it eighty cubits, high.

When the extraordinary elements on this
account are removed, we find a foundation of historical truth, namely, that
long before Mahinda's day there were at least a few Buddhist monks in Ceylon
and that this cetiya was built by them.

Nor can one, with regard to the question
at hand, ignore the arrival in succession of a large number of people from
India, among whom, it is difficult to believe, there were no Buddhists.

In order to perform the consecration of
Vijaya, the ministers sent an embassy to Madhurā requesting the Pāndyan king
to send his daughter to be the queen of Vijaya. In due course she was sent
along with many maidens, craftsmen and a thousand families of the eighteen
guilds.

The arrival of Princess Bhaddakaccānā and
her retinue, too, brings us to the same, or, in fact, a more decisive
conclusion. Bhaddakaccānā was the youngest daughter of Pandu, the Sakyan, a
cousin of the Buddha. ' She was (even as) a woman made of gold, fair of form
and eagerly wooed. For (love of) her did seven kings send precious gifts to
the king (Pandu), but for fear of the king, as since he was told (by
soothsayers) that an auspicious journey would come to pass, nay, one with
the result of royal consecration, he placed his daughter speedily upon a
ship, together with thirty-two women friends, and launched the ship upon the
Ganges, saying : ' Whosoever can, let him take my daughter.' And they could
not overtake her, but the ship fared swiftly thence. Already on the second
day they reached the haven called Gonagamaka and there they landed robed
like nuns (pabbajitā).

Here two facts support our view. First,
she is said to be very closely related to the Buddha, and one may rightly
infer that she and her friends were not all ignorant of the teachings of
their royal kinsman. Indeed, we would not be far wrong if we take for
granted that they, and at least Bhaddakaccānā and some of her friends, were
followers of the Buddha. Secondly, we are told they came disguised as nuns
(pabbajitā). Though, as noted before, it is not possible to say definitely
what was meant by pabbajitā, considering the locality from which they came
and their connections with the Buddha's family, it is very likely that this
word signified Buddhist bhikkhunīs.
As shown in the preceding pages, there lived in pre-Mahindian Ceylon people
belonging to almost every religious sect then existing in India. Even
Ājīvakas who were, by no means, so numerous as the followers of the Buddha
are mentioned as living in Ceylon. How then is one to account for the
absence of any mention of Buddhists ? The only explanation possible is that
silence was observed with regard to their existence in order to create a
dark background on the canvas on which the enthusiastic narrator of Buddhist
history might successfully paint his glowing picture of Mahinda's miraculous
conversion of the island.

Again, when we consider how rapidly the
conversion of Ceylon took place, it is difficult to believe that the people
were, till then, entirely ignorant of the teaching. After the very first
discourse of Mahinda forty thousand people including the king embraced the
Buddhist faith. His other discourses, too, were equally successful.

All these facts help us to conclude that
Buddhism did exist in Ceylon before the time of Mahinda, though it was only
after Devānampiyatissa's conversion that it became the state religion of the
country. Moreover, it may be justly said that Mahinda's mission had as its
chief aim not the mere introduction of the teachings of the Buddha to Ceylon
but the formation of the monastic order and thereby the 'establishment' of
the sāsanā in the island."

[Quelle: Adikaram, E. W. < - 1986>:
Early history of Buddhism in Ceylon or State of Buddhism in Ceylon as
revealed by the Pāli commentaries of the 5th century A.D. -- Colombo :
Gunasena, 1946. -- Zugleich: London, Univ., Dissertation. -- S. 46 - 48]

In Pali Literature the Asuras are classed among the
inferior deities together with the

supannas,

gandhabbas,

yakkhas (DA.i.51),

garulas and

nāgas (Mil.117).

Rebirth as an Asura is considered as one of the four unhappy rebirths
or evil states (apāyā), the others being
niraya, tiracchānayoni and pettivisaya (E.g., It.93; J.vi.595;
J.v.186; Pv.iv.11).

The fight between the Devas and the Asuras is mentioned even in the
oldest books of the Tipitaka and is described in identical words in
several passages (E.g., D.ii.285; S.i.222; iv.201ff; v.447; M.i.253;
A.iv.432; also S.i.216ff).

A chief or king of the Asuras is often referred to as Asurinda (*),
several Asuras being credited with the role of leader, most commonly,
however, Vepacitti (E.g., S.i.222; iv.201ff; J.i.205) and Rahu (A.ii.17,
53; iii.243).

(*) Sakka was also called Asurinda and Asurādhipa; see, e.g.,
J.i.66 (Asurindena pavitthadevanagaram viya) and J.v.245, where we
are told that from the time he conquered the Asuras he was called
Asurādhipa.

The Asuras are spoken of as dwelling in the ocean after having been
conquered by Vajira-hattha (Indra, elsewhere, [J.v.139] called
Asurappamaddana) and are called Vāsava's brethren, of wondrous powers
and of great glory. They were present at the preaching of the
Mahā Samaya Sutta (see DA.ii.689). Buddhaghosa says that they were all
descendants of an Asura maiden named Sujātā. This cannot be the Sujātā,
Vepacitti's daughter, whom Sakka married (J.i.205-6). See also Dānavā.

There were evidently several classes of Asuras, and two are mentioned
in the Pitakas, the Kālakañjakas and the Dānaveghasas. The Dānaveghasas
carried bows in their hands. The Kālakañjakas were of fearsome shape
(D.ii.259), and were considered the lowest among the Asuras (D.iii.7;
see also Kālañkajaka and Vepacitti).

Once the Asuras dwelt in Tāvatimsa together with the devas. When Magha
Mānavaka was born as Sakka, he did not relish the idea of sharing a kingdom with
others, and having made the Asuras drunken, he had them hurled by their
feet on to the steeps of Sineru. There they tumbled into what came to be
known as the Asurabhanava, on the lowest level of Sineru, equal in
extent to Tāvatimsa. Here grew the
Cittapātalī tree, and when it blossomed the Asuras knew they were no longer in
the deva-world.

Wishing to regain their kingdom, they climbed Sineru, "like ants going up a
pillar." When the alarm was given, Sakka went out to give battle to them in the
ocean, but being worsted in the fight, he fled in his
Vejayantaratha. Fearing that his chariot hurt the young Garulas,
he had it turned back. The Asuras, thinking that Sakka had obtained
reinforcements, turned and fled right into the Asurabhavana. Sakka went back to
his city and in that moment of victory, the
Vejayantapāsāda sprang up from the ground. To prevent the Asuras from coming
back again, Sakka set up as guard in five places Nāgas, Garulas,
Kumbhandas, Yakkhas and the
Four Great Kings. Everywhere were images of Indra bearing the thunderbolt in his
hand. (J.i.202-4; DhA.i.272-80; the same story, differing slightly in details,
is found in SnA.484-5). There it is said that when Sakka was born among them,
the Asuras received him with great cordiality; see also the various incidents of
the Asura war mentioned in the Samyutta Nikāya I. 216ff.

The Asuras are
sometimes called Pubbadevā (SnA.484) and their kingdom is 10,000 leagues
in extent. SnA.485; elsewhere, in the same page, it is given as 100,000
leagues.

In Buddhaghosa's time, the bygone lustre of the word Asura (as
equivalent to Ahura) seems to have faded. His explanation (SA.i.260) of
the name is interesting. When Sakka was born with his followers in the
Asura-world (which later became Tāvatimsa) the Asuras prepared a drink
called gandapāna. Sakka warned his companions not to drink it, but the
Asuras became drunk and were thrown down Sineru. Halfway down they
regained consciousness and made a vow never to drink intoxicants (surd)
again; hence their name Asura.

The Anguttara Commentary (ii.526) defines Asura as bībhaccha, awful,
vile. They had a drum called ālambara, made of a crab's claw. They left
it behind in their flight from Sakka, and since then Sakka has the use
of it (J.ii.344).

A story is told by the Buddha (S.2, v.446) of a man who once saw a
whole army with its four divisions enter a lotus stalk and the man
thought he was mad. But the Buddha says that it was an Asura army in
flight. Here the Asuras would seem to be fairies or nature spirits."

A chojin wrestler named Asuraman in Kinnikuman and its sequel
Ultimate Muscle.

In
Fist of the North Star there is a country called The Land of Asura that
is home to many of the series' martial arts and merciless warriors
called Asura who fear only the rakshasa.

Asuras are a race of extraplanar creatures in some editions of
the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.

Asura is a central character in the Iain M
Banks science fiction book
Feersum Endjinn, with an explicit reference to the Hindu etymology.

In Outcast: Dragon Secrets, Ivar, the last of the Asura, is the
loyal companion of Timothy, the main character. Ivar's body is
covered with a swirling design that allows him to change the pigmint
of his skin, allowing him to blend with anything.

In the
Digital Devil Saga dualigy, Asura is a term referring to certain tuners (humans
with a virus that causes them to transform into demons). All the
main playable characters are Asuras, and their Avatar forms are all
based and named around the mythological Asuras and Devas.

In the Naruto anime/manga, the character Gaara, is named after
an asura.

In the RG Veda manga, Ashura is the name of a main character as
well as a clan of gods. The series is very loosely based off of the Vedas,
most references of which are found in character names alone.

Asura is the name of a server for the MMORPG,
Final Fantasy XI. It is also the name of the Queen of Summons in
Final Fantasy IV -- an ally who casts healing and protective spells on the
party. In addition, Asura is a name given to various mid-level swords in the
series, usually katanas.

Asura's armour is a very powerful chest plate found in Venus lighthouse in
the
RPG, Golden
Sun.

In that same game, Asura is the special attack delievered by the
artifact weapon
Kikuichi-monji.

Asura Strike is a skill for the Monk class in the MMORPG,
Ragnarok Online

Azura is a deadra (demon) in the RPG
Elder Scrolls Series.

Asura is a powerful sword with a counterattack(Asura'sRevenge)
bought from Fascinaturu in exchange for LP in the RPG, Saga
Frontier.

Asura is a character class in the MMORPG
Tantra Online, which resembles an assassin."

M
I., 1-4.—Proem.
I., 5-10.—-Names of the earlier Buddhas (Dīpankara to Kassapa) from
whom the Bodhisatta received the prophecy of his future Buddhahood.

EM
I, 1-4.—Proem.
I„ 5-32.—Details of the lives in which the Bodhisatta meets the
earlier Buddhas and receives from them the prophecy of his future
Buddhahood.

The details given
in EM. are also found in MT. (55-65), which in the case of some of
the Buddhas e.g. Sumana (57.21f), Anomadassī (58.11f.) Paduma
(58-28f), Sumedha (59.27f), Sujāta (60.20f), Siddhattha (62.6f),
Piyadassī (61.4f), Dhammadassī (81.22f), Vipassī (62.31f), and
Vessabhū (G3.21f), gives the reasons for their respective names. In
most eases (see e.g. foot-notes to MT. 60, 811 62, 63) the reasons
are the same as found in the Buddhavamsa Commentary passim,. EM.
does not give these reasons. Details of the Bodhisatta's lives are
also given in the Nidānakathā of the Jātaka Commentary, and the Pāli
Thūpavamsa. Generally, all accounts agree with each other, but in
some cases EM. differs. Thus, EM. says (1.53) that in the time of
Padumuttara the Bodhisatta was a Jatila named Mahāratthaka, while
all the other sources (MT. 59. 11, JNK. 37, PThv. 12) describe him
as a "mahāratthiya" and give his name as Jatila. In the time of
Piyadassī, the Bodhisatta, according to EM. (1.68) was a brahamin
named Kassapa : all other sources call him a mānava. It is
interesting to note that in EM. (eg. 1. 74, xix. 65) the term
Sākyapungava is used as a generic name for any Buddha not only
Gotama. The particulars of the Bodhisatta in the time of Kakusandha
Buddha are more detailed in EM. (I. 114f) than elsewhere.

The names of the different kappas, in which the
different Buddhas were born — Sāra, Sāramanda, Manda, Vara, Sela,
Bhāsa and Bhadda — aregiven in EM. but not elsewhere.

EMI., 133 - 138. — The Bodhisatta is born as Vessantara, gives
away his wife and children, and is reborn in Tusita as the deva
Santusita.

MT.'s reference to
Vessantara is much shorter — (65.5f); it does not mention the name
Santusita.

EMI., 139 - 165.—Events leading j to Gotama's Renunciation, and
attainment of Buddhahood.

The MT. account
(65.12f) resembles EM. almost word for word. EM. makes no reference
to the Kisāgotamī episode, MT. does (65.271). PThv. 20 f. which is
similar to MT. has a passage about the, Cūlāmani Thūpa, so does JNk.
but neither MT. nor EM.

I., 11-18.—Gotama attains
Buddhahood.

EMI., 160-172.—Gotama attains Buddhahood.

The MT. very
closely resembles (66.28f) the EM.

EMI., 173 - 215. — The Buddha has a vision of the future of his
teaching, and the future of Lanka, in due order — the First Sermon,
his three visits to Ceylon, the colonisation of Ceylon by Vijaya,
the three Recitals and the conversion of Ceylon by Mahinda.

The account agrees
almost word for word with MT. (67.7 to 69.6). Cp. Dīpavamsa I.
15-28.

M
I., 14.—The First Sermon.

EMI., 215 - 273. — Sahampati's request to the Buddha to preach and
the reason why the Buddha waited till then. The journey to Benares
(Kāsipura) on foot ; the meeting with Upaka. The First Sermon at
Isipatana and the attainment of arahantship of the Pancavaggiyā.

The account is
substantially the same as MT. 69.7 f. but expanded. EM. gives the
reason why the Buddha went on foot to Isipatana (I. 244f), MT. does
not. MT. (70.6) merely refers to the meeting with Upaka (Kāsipuram
gacchanto antarāmagge, Upakena mddhim mantetvā) but EM. describes
the meeting in great detail, with a wealth of poetic imagery in 25
verses (249-273). EM (279-288) describes the wonders attendant on
the First Sermon and gives the names of the Pancavaggiyā, with
details of their attainments, culminating in arahantship, after the
preaching of the Anattalakkhana Sutta. MT. has only five lines (70.7
to 11).

M
I., 15-16.—The conversion of the Bhaddavaggiyā and of
Uruvela-Kassapa and his 1000 Jatilas.

EMI., 289 - 296. — The conversion of Yasa and his friends.
I., 297 - 300. — The conversion of the Bhaddavaggiyā.
I., 300 - 472. — The conversion of the Tebhātika-Jatilā
(Uruvela-Kassapa, Nadī-Kassapa and Gayā-Kassapa) and their
followers.

EM. (202) gives the
names of Yasa's friends, not MT. (70.13 to 18); EM. calls the
Bhaddavaggiyā "timsamatte kumāre, Bhaddiyappamukhe" and adds (297f)
that they were the step-brothers of the king of Kosala, information
not found elsewhere. EM. describes in very great detail the story of
the conversion of Uruvela-Kassapa with an account of the numerous
pātihariya performed by the Buddha to that end. This aocount is
evidently taken from Vinaya I. 24 f. The account in MT. occupies
only a few lines (70.25-71.27).

M
I, 19-30. —The Buddha's first visit, to Ceylon to the assembly of
the Yakkhas at Mahānāgavana ; the transplantation of the Yakkhas to
Giridīpa.

EMI, 473 - 645. — Same subject as M.

EM. agrees very
doselv with MT. (71.20-81.8) — the description of Mahānāgavana (EM.
475-485; MT. 72.12-73.5), the pātihāriya performed by the Buddha to
subdue the Yākkhas (EM. 496-612; MT. 78.26—80.8), the description of
Giridīpa (EM. (512-620 ; MT. 80.5 to 17), the bringing up of
Giridīpa, the transportation of the Yakkhas into it and setting it
back in its original place, the recital of Paritta for the
protection of Lanka (622-643; MT. 80.18—81.16). MT. says (92.9) that
the description of Mahānāgavana was taken over from the Atthakathā (
= Sīhalatthakathā); so were the details of the pātihāriya (MT.
93.2). Evidently the full story of the Buddha's visits were given in
great detail in Ak. (cf. atthakathānayam aparihāpetvā, at MT. 82.6)
and was interspersed with Pāli verses (eg. MT. 79.17f). It is
noteworthy that in the account of the Buddha's first visit there is
very close resemblance between and MT. and Dpv. even in the matter
of language.

MI., 31-36. — The Buddha preaches to the devas who are present ;
Mahāsumana of Sumanakūta attains sotāpatti. The Buddha gives him a
handful of his hair for worship over which the deva builds a thūpa.

EMI., 646 - 657ab — The Buddha preach to the devas, nāgas, dānavas
and gandhabbas. The rest as in M. but at greater length.

The EM. account is
a versification of the same passage as in MT. 95. 16-98.11.

M
I., 37-43.—Further history of the Mahiyaṅgaṇa Thūpa, its
enlargement, in succession, by Sarabhū (who deposited in it the
Buddha's collarbone) to 12 cubits : by Uddhacūlābhaya to 30 cubits
and by Dutthagāmani to 80 cubits.

EM
I., 660 - 680. — Sarabhu, with 1,000 monks deposits the collarbone
and enlarges the thūpa. The deposit is covered by medavannapāsānā
brought
from the nāga-world by two novices. Simabali (Sīvali) and Sum ana.
They return to Kusināra. Later, 236 years after the Buddha's death,
Uddhacūlābhaya, having seen miracles at the cetiya, enlarges it to
30 cubits. Dutthagāmani, after becoming sole king of Ceylon, visits
the cetiya and builds it to 80 cubits.

The EM. account is
the same in all particulars as that of MT. (98.24-100.28). EM.
states that Dutthagāmani built the thūpa after his conquest of the
Damilas (Damilamaddanam katvā punāgantvā), but M. and MT. have
Damilamāddanam karonto tam thānam patvā, meaning that it was during
his campaign against the Damilas.

M
I., 44-70. — War between the Nāga princes, Cūlodara and Mahodara.
The Buddha visits Lanka a second time in Cittamāsa, in the 5th year
after Buddhahood, accompanied by Samiddhisumana carrying a
rājāyatana-tree to shade the Buddha. The story of Samiddhi's past
life in Nāgadīpa. Maniakkhika pays homage to the Buddha and obtains
his consent to visit Ceylon again.

The account of the
Buddha's second visit is commented upon in MT. 101-9—111.5. The MT.
(104.6) gives the name of Mahodara's sister Tiracchikā (v.l.
Kidabbikā) but neither M. nor EM. has it. It also contains (102.16f)
two traditions regarding the relationship between Cūlodara and
Mahodara, but EM. takes no notice of this fact.

M
I., 71-83. — Third visit of the Buddha to Lanka three years later at
Maniakkhika's request. He leaves his footprint on Sumanakūta and
consecrates by this presence the various future holy spots of
Ceylon.

EM
I., 708 - 720 = M. 71-38.

The account of the
third visit is found in MT. 111.17-117. 5. It adds (111.13) that
Maniakkhika visited the Buddha at Jetavana " mānavakavannena." It
also gives (114.15 f) the reason for the Buddha leaving his
foot-print on Sumanakūta and why the mountain was so called. It
explains that Dīghavāpi was on the side of Sumanakūta."